Kia EV6 owners can take advantage of an update to optimize charging in cold weather to reduce charging time. Specifically, the electric crossover can now be equipped with battery pre-conditioning.
With a title of car of the year 2022 and 2,452 copies sold in France since the start of the year, the career of the Kia EV6 is off to a good start.
It must be said that the electric crossover has many qualities, such as its range of up to 528 kilometres, as well as its 800-volt system ensuring rapid recharging from 10 to 80% in just 18 minutes, while he can handle a power of 240 kW. In addition, it is equipped with the two-way charging to power various electrical objects.
A useful feature
But the new creation of the Korean brand still had a small flaw: the absence of battery preconditioning. An increasingly widespread system, which equips several models on the market such as those in the Tesla range, the Audi e-tron GT or the Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric.
This device then makes it possible to heat the battery before recharging in cold weather, which aims to reduce the time required to fill it. Because you probably know it, but the cells need to be at a well-defined temperature to function optimally.
Until recently, the Kia EV6 was not equipped with this feature. But at the beginning of last July, the Korean brand announced the launch of a new version of its electric crossover, as well as the arrival of battery preconditioning. A system then delivered as standard on all models leaving the factory from that date.
But the cars already produced could therefore still not take advantage of it, much to the chagrin of users. The manufacturer has finally solved the problem.
A little update
Until now, charging power was then limited in cold weather, which considerably lengthened the time spent at the terminal. But now a new update announced by Kia in a press release was to change the situation. From now on, all EV6 owners can go to the workshop to take advantage of this developmentwhich allows them to take advantage of battery preconditioning.
An upgrade that comes just in time before the onset of winter and can reduce charging time by 50% in cold weather. Indeed, at a temperature of 5 degrees, it is necessary to count about 35 minutes to go from 10 to 80%, compared to 18 when the climate is milder.
With this update, the driver will simply have to program a route to a charging station fast. The car will take care of preheating the battery as soon as the temperature is below 21 degrees and the range is greater than or equal to 24%. The preconditioning is then deactivated automatically as soon as the battery reaches the correct temperature.
This upgrade is free and can be done in two hours by appointment at a Kia dealership. Too bad, since electric cars increasingly support remote updates (OTA) thus avoiding travel. The update is only for drivers of 2022 model year EV6s (i.e. all those that have ever been manufactured except 2023 model years).
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