Kia EV6 Road Trip - San Francisco to Yosemite - Is it Practical?

[@OldAgima]

To unlock you have to press the small recess in the handle. ;-)

[@mbrenengen]

Ah! I knew I was doing something wrong. It made no sense that I had to dig my key out.

[@ossnow]

It should unlock automatically. Mine only has issues having the mobile phone close to the key. Most likely interferences. The point with the location of the speedometer is interesting. The GT line I have has a head up display and I never noticed that the visibility on the screen is not that good.

[@ossnow]

The trunk opens automatically after 5 beeps if you stand behind the car. It is not random :-). the doors most likely don’t unlock if you have the mobile phone close to the key. Without mobile close, it works flawless.

[@mbrenengen]

I think I didn't push the indent on the handle. Do you have to do that?

[@ossnow]

@@mbrenengen no, you don’t have to do that. You just need to walk towards the car and the handles should pop out. But maybe the owner switched it off.

[@Visualhead_Spacer]

im not sure if your Turo owner gave you a run down before they delivered the car to you, it would have given you a lot more info or how you prefer your settings. The rear cargo door auto lift gate can be turned off when u stand at the back. This thing is packed with new tech and features that you have to be aware of. This is a Wind trim, only GT-line has auto door handle pop up. Before diving into EVs, you could have researched first regarding charging stations. Yes, unlike Tesla, EVgo, EA, Chargepoint, etc has all different apps to use and sign up/setup before you travel. Everything would have been easier if you use the app. Unlike Tesla or Rivian, these cars doesn't support Plug-N-Charge...yet where you don't to worry about using cards, apps, etc. That is one major issue with other EVs. Your travel plan could have gone smoothly if you used ABRP or A better router planner app where it suggest all the best charging station along the way to your destination and preferred stations. EV infrastructure in America is a year or two behind in EU or at least against Tesla networks. As you have demonstrated, its not yet idiot proof when figuring out charging stations. I think once people have more education/knowlege how EV way of travel is, it will be much better experience than ICE cars tbh. We don't even use public chargers unless you are traveling far.

[@mbrenengen]

The remote places were not too bad - I figured then it pretty quickly. It is in the dense urban parts where everything went to hell.

[@bfvader]

I can't get over how expensive electricity is in the States... Here in BC I can get my EV6 from 19-80% for $9 CAD in just over 15 minutes at Electrify Canada or Petro Canada, or completely free (albeit a little slower) at one of the 150-200kW Chevron/Journie chargers.

[@mbrenengen]

There are expensive and inexpensive chargers here as well. I think when there are more chargers, competition will drive prices down.

[@volcalstone]

EA in the states are greedy as they know they're the biggest 350kW charging network. Well this is what I think at least. On my first road trip earlier this month it wasn't perfect but it was expensive when I added everything all up vs gas. Luckily I still had my Kia 1000kW credits so it was all covered. Compared to my old ICE car which would've cost around $150 while EV charging was around $120 plus the wait times. How can EA charge people .56kW when at home it could be as cheap as .11kW instead. That's 5x more expensive! It fully occurred to me that range is very important when it comes to road tripping your EV. You want to avoid public charging as much as possible period. If EA was charging around .30kW right now it wouldn't be so bad. This is around how much Telsa charges so why not? Once their network fully opens up to everyone I hope EA will get cheaper. At this time I would prefer to use EA though as my car could take 350kW. Lastly all that free charging for 2 or 3 years isn't helping the charging situation with EA too as everyone wants to only use those vs paying at another place. It just seems like EA wants to make as much money as possible right now as they're probably not making much from those free charging plans.

[@SOLAOFHADES]

You don't charge at a high state of charge it's more cost effective to recharge from 20% to 30% state if charge ...

[@mbrenengen]

So that was one thing we learned.

[@iNFECTED_pIE]

Sucks that people have started cutting the cords. Must be selling the copper inside. Almost seems like they are going to have to start have a outlet on the charge stations and expect people to bring their own cables.

[@moderatesunited]

EV6 is probably the best ev available in the United States. Unfortunately public charging infrastructure isn't there yet. I pay 2.2 cents a kw to charge my EV6 at home off peak hours. It's super cheap.

[@_cjmccullough]

I get that the infrastructure sometimes is bad but your renter should have given you more information. There are so many ways you could have done this road trip better and more reliably. You should have been able to know that chargers were busy before you got there while using the apps and with apps like PlugShare, cables being cut is something that would have been reported so you wasted your time unnecessarily because you weren’t properly equipped to do the drive. Yes it’s definitely not as easy to lead as gas but just like when you went to Electrify America and it just worked, there is more of a learning curve with electric cars. It’s not for everyone.

[@mbrenengen]

What about in San francisco? That was the biggest frustration, and I think it will be difficult to remedy that with so many more people needing chargers in the future. Know that I am not anti-electric car, quite the opposite. I just think that people need to be realistic.

[@_cjmccullough]

@@mbrenengen I definitely agree with being realistic, but setting yourself up for success by being more prepared for something like an electric car is the most important part about going on a road trip. Also knowing which chargers work and which ones don’t before you will get to them is helpful and possible if you are educated on apps that help with this. It’s not your fault though because you didn’t know and most people don’t know until they have a few bad experiences. The charging infrastructure does suck in certain parts of the country and the world and certain companies like Electrify America are currently moving a lot of their chargers from the West Coast to their version 2 chargers because they were very unreliable. There is definitely a lot of improvement that needs to happen very fast because of how many electric cars are hitting the market today but they will get better and electric energy is still the future regardless of whether it’s not the most reliable just yet. These things will take time and we are still considered early adopters to how it will be in 10 years.

[@mbrenengen]

I appreciate your insight. I am not disagreeing with you at all. What are your thoughts about EVs and the electrical grid? As I highlighted in the video, I was in California at a time there was barely enough electricity for all the AC, and rolling blackouts were a possibility. Considering how much electricity will be needed to replace the fuel gasoline vehicles are using today, where does that come from? Where is the infrastructure to move it around. Is it really reasonable to mandate no ICE cars sold there after 2035? Maybe it is the sort of kick in the ass the country needs to prioritize green energy and transmission.

[@paulgoudfrooij6561]

$9 for 40 miles? I get 200 miles for $7 at home! Also, I recommend to download all the relevant apps and create an account in those apps before venturing out. Paying through the apps works fine. And yes, you have to unlock Kia EV’s with the key.

[@DblOSmith]

Just get a Tesla. Lol

[@mbrenengen]

Oh sure. Only if you want drama-free vacations.