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Ownership Verified: NooDle’s EV take 2 : The Mullet (Kia EV6)

It's not a big deal, but just annoying.

You need to specify/ask the dealer specifically to do this, AND you use up 1 of your 2 "free" software updates if you do. I was never even asked by the dealer if I wanted this when I took it in for service in May.... The update notice was apparently sent out in October of 2022

I've been in and out of the dealer to fix minor niggles and recalls a bunch of times since then, but nobody ever told me this. Maybe they don't even know themselves?

All in all it's a non issue. Or a first world problem.
"Oh noes, my largely free company car, under a very specific set of circumstances, only charges at 2 times the speed of my former car, but it should be capable of doing it 6 times quicker"

I'd wager most normal people who just plug in at home/work and hardly ever use the DC charge option will even notice, which may be why Kia isn't emailing every EV6 driver to go to the dealer for the upgrade.
 
NooDle said:
Turns out my EV6 can't properly preheat the battery, it needs a software update for that.
It's just the cold weather/battery.

So I guess I'll call the dealer to have this done.
Click to expand...

Question, could you do the update yourself if need be?
 
Nope, you get OTA updates for infotainment and GPS stuff, this needs to be done by the dealer. Also, it’s a paid upgrade apparently
 
Absolutely disgusting. Contemptible. I can't wait until I get an old car that needs an update that no longer exists from a dealership that doesn't even know about it.
 
It doesn't need it to function.... it's like when a big truck is refuelling and they press the thingy on the pump to make it pump diesel quicker because they have a 500 l tank... it still charges, just not at optimum speed because of external factors...

On the other hand, I'm not one of those people who does winter holidays/skiing, but if I did, I would want my cross country roadtrip to go by as smoothly as possible.
I can imagine a car full of wife/kids/dogs being not too impressed when I say 'we just need to charge here for 90 minutes, then drive 2 hrs, then charge for 90 minutes again, etc' I'd probably have a divorce by the time we'd got to our destination
 
We're spending a few days south of the gulf and I'm just going to take the Corolla instead of either of my leased EVs. Mostly because of keeping the mileage accumulation at bay, but I also have no interest in setting up charging practices in another country just for one short trip's sake. I'll continue to have a more positive outlook about EVs when I keep them in the use I've bought them for (though a 1500+ km round trip with motorways is also not what I got the Corolla for, haha)
 
NooDle said:
It doesn't need it to function.... it's like when a big truck is refuelling and they press the thingy on the pump to make it pump diesel quicker because they have a 500 l tank... it still charges, just not at optimum speed because of external factors...

On the other hand, I'm not one of those people who does winter holidays/skiing, but if I did, I would want my cross country roadtrip to go by as smoothly as possible.
I can imagine a car full of wife/kids/dogs being not too impressed when I say 'we just need to charge here for 90 minutes, then drive 2 hrs, then charge for 90 minutes again, etc' I'd probably have a divorce by the time we'd got to our destination
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That being said, an update that is needed to unlock an advertised feature of the car would be something that should be free.
 
What he said. Crucially, arbitrary limitations of firmware updates are just bad form...for customers that is. I'm sure dealers are happier than a motherfucker charging an hour's labor to plug in a USB drive.
 
ok well here's where it gets tricky. I asked around about this, and apparently you have 2 "free" upgrades as standard.
So I'll get this one for free, and the next one (if there is one) is free aswell. Any next ones are paid.
Also, apparently this is not as simple as plugging in a USB, it involves some OBD port shenanigans a normal person wouldn't be able to do.

Why this is, escapes me.

Updating the GPS/infotainment can be done over OTA or USB though (I choose the latter, since it's a 50ish GB file which would take forever on the crappy 4G I have here at home)
 
NooDle said:
Why this is, escapes me.
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Yeah that may be a legacy car marker thing where they refuse to have potentially security related stuff accessible via OTA-systems at all. Which is not the worst thing in the world - anyone remember that jeep hack where the connected infotainment somehow was able to gain access to brake controls remotely or something?
but yeah, others seem to have this down in a secure way, so let's call it room for improvement. at least you get the two free updates. do you know whether you can choose which ones you get or whether they are basically next + nextnext from delivery? ... or whether installing nextnext would get you all the features frmo next as well, i.e. by just waiting a bit longer you can get more out of your two free updates?
 
It seems I've driven quite a lot since summer, car is already nearing 57k kms, which is close to 60k, which means it's time for my yearly service at the dealer.
I have requested the "battery preheat" update, and an aircon check (co worker of mine said he never requested them to top up the fluid, which meant no A/C in summer). Will have them do some other minor things (new windscreen wipers and screenwash, because winter/freezing) and replacing the plastic cap on the towbar since I seem to have lost it.

Also also, the wife noticed there is some doorstrip/thingy that looks like it's peeling? Will have them look at that aswell.
IMG_3686.jpeg


Curious to see how long this will all take, as there is basically zero actual maintenance other than checking the wheels are still on and the brakes still work...
 
Things I learned volume 742 : my car has "smart" ventilation.
I noticed it was consuming ridiculous amounts of powah, since it's been -6° here, and heating requires energy.
For very short drives (let's say <10 kms), the car is struggling to heat up the cabin since there's a whole lotta room to heat up and very little time to do so. This resulted in 30+ kwh/100 kms which is frankly unacceptable.

I have noticed that you can turn all the AC/heating off at which point the car activates "smart ventilation" mode. This spins the fans / turns on the AC when the windows fog up, but doesn't use the heater at all. SO I've been using it for very short journeys and noticed a massive result : consumption down to 15-18 kwh/100 kms. Noice.
You see the fan turn from 0 to 1 or 2 sometimes when it's fogging up (like when you breathe, or in my case, transport a hot pizza).
Also also, I notice that you don't really feel the cold if you have buttwarmers and steering heater on full. Both of these use like 300w combined, whereas the heatpump sometimes goes to 5kw when it's really working.


tl,dr : Car uses many watts because cold. This annoys Noodle, because he is a pedantic man.
Noodle found out that if you turn off the AC and heating, car uses less electricity, but is smart enough to not let the windows fog up. This pleases Noodle.
 
NooDle said:
Car uses many watts because cold. This annoys Noodle, because he is a pedantic man.
Noodle found out that if you turn off the AC and heating, car uses less electricity, but is smart enough to not let the windows fog up. This pleases Noodle.
Click to expand...
In my head I automatically replaced "Noodle" with "Zathras" and read it his voice. :rofl:
 
NooDle said:
Things I learned volume 742 : my car has "smart" ventilation.
I noticed it was consuming ridiculous amounts of powah, since it's been -6° here, and heating requires energy.
For very short drives (let's say <10 kms), the car is struggling to heat up the cabin since there's a whole lotta room to heat up and very little time to do so. This resulted in 30+ kwh/100 kms which is frankly unacceptable.

I have noticed that you can turn all the AC/heating off at which point the car activates "smart ventilation" mode. This spins the fans / turns on the AC when the windows fog up, but doesn't use the heater at all. SO I've been using it for very short journeys and noticed a massive result : consumption down to 15-18 kwh/100 kms. Noice.
You see the fan turn from 0 to 1 or 2 sometimes when it's fogging up (like when you breathe, or in my case, transport a hot pizza).
Also also, I notice that you don't really feel the cold if you have buttwarmers and steering heater on full. Both of these use like 300w combined, whereas the heatpump sometimes goes to 5kw when it's really working.


tl,dr : Car uses many watts because cold. This annoys Noodle, because he is a pedantic man.
Noodle found out that if you turn off the AC and heating, car uses less electricity, but is smart enough to not let the windows fog up. This pleases Noodle.
Click to expand...
I prefer my car to be warm :D
 
loose_unit said:
I prefer my car to be warm :D
Click to expand...
So do I, but when I know my car wont be able to heat up the interior for the couple of minutes I'll drive it, I like to turn off the (sometimes quite loud) fans. Interestingly I can even hear the heatpump hum at times, a first for me (last winter I was EV6 less)

Still, -7°C today, and nothing nicer than stepping into a preheated car (buttwarmers activate!)
 
I think it was from Jonny Smith that I heard that just using the seat heaters is enough instead of running the entire heating, I can't remember if it was ever cold enough to test this when I had my Model 3. Definitely better for short journeys. A wheel heater would help even more.

Neighbours across the road now have a black EV6. It's nice to look at, but wow it looks comically oversized compared to normal cars. If parked outside their house it completely fills the parking bay, which can usually accommodate big SUVs and vans. I think it's a real shame.
 
Matt2000 said:
wow it looks comically oversized compared to normal cars
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haha, same with the ioniq5 if you ask me. looking at fotos before they were on the street it always seemed golf-sized or something like that. then you find them on the road next to other cars and start thinking "wait... something is off".

in the extreme cold my car does funny things with the SOC - maybe i should charge it to 100% for once... i arrived at work at indicated 38%. half an hour after i parked, i went to check the temperature and found the SOC at 43%. now it's back down to 40%.
 
As usual, Jonny Smith is right. Unless you're a lady/a reptile/ another coldblooded animal which always has cold feet, buttwarmers (and maybe steering wheel heater) is plenty, don't need to blow hot air to heat 5 seats + a big boot when I'm alone in the car for most of the journeys

Matt2000 said:
If parked outside their house it completely fills the parking bay, which can usually accommodate big SUVs and vans. I think it's a real shame.
Click to expand...
What do you mean? It is a bit big, and parking can be an issue, but other than that I've never felt like it was that massive, I'm used to it by now.
A Niro is an option if you want a smaller EV, and they are bringing out a smaller/weirder model if that's what you prefer.
 
eizbaer said:
haha, same with the ioniq5 if you ask me. looking at fotos before they were on the street it always seemed golf-sized or something like that. then you find them on the road next to other cars and start thinking "wait... something is off".
Click to expand...
Absolutely, they both just seem to big for their design.

NooDle said:
What do you mean? It is a bit big, and parking can be an issue, but other than that I've never felt like it was that massive, I'm used to it by now.
A Niro is an option if you want a smaller EV, and they are bringing out a smaller/weirder model if that's what you prefer.
Click to expand...
I just think it looks out of scale, like The Beast does and I find it disappointing. I love the design, a smaller equivalent would be my choice because it's more appropriate for our roads. I almost joked that I want the EV5, the EV4 actually looks nice but it's still hard to determine the scale. The Model 3 didn't look big, but it really felt it on narrow roads when I wanted to have fun.
 
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