Will My Kia EV6 Become An Expensive Brick? | Battery Bargains

[@ArtiePenguin1]

I've been an EV6 owner for one year and put 30,000 miles on it. I've not experienced any reliability concerns. Keep in mind that the forum posts skew towards bad experiences since most happy owners don't see a need to post. There are no major widespread reliability issues with E-GMP vehicles. The 12 V battery issue is largely related to a bad batch of lead-acid batteries and was more of an issue in the 2022 model year. If you get a used E-GMP vehicle, all you'd have to do is swap the 12 volt. If you do any kind of road tripping, the EV6 is the car for you. It's the fastest charging EV under $60k hands down. I'll have videos on my channel about this soon if any of you are curious.

[@BatteriesIncludedPodcast]

Thanks for chiming in with this, Artie.

[@tomm5936]

I’m with this as well. My EV6 is a 2022 and I got an early one in Nov 2021. Never had an issue with the car. I love it and if I were to buy a new car, Hyundai / Kia would be top of my list again.

[@ArtiePenguin1]

@@tomm5936 Agreed. When I saw this episode title in my feed I just had to watch it. I'm glad Tom, Dom, and Martyn also pushed back on the notion that the EV6 would turn into a "brick". E-GMP cars are some of the best EVs on the road, minor infotainment software quirks aside.

[@prwashin1]

Have an Ioniq 5 going on 2 years. Exclusively DC fast charge since it’s free and I haven’t notice any battery degradation. My theory 800V cars are not reaching their full charging potential so it’s less strain on the battery. Highest I’ve pulled was 230 kWh.

[@ArtiePenguin1]

@prwashin1 Yup, agreed on the longevity. But E-GMP vehicles actually reach a 3C charging rate, which is quite aggressive. The thing that saves us though is that 800-volt architecture is so much more efficient. To get 230 kW, we only need 305 amps. I'd never get a non-800 V EV if I had to do any road tripping. The 800-volt architecture is just so much more efficient. No need to pump 500 amps just to barely see 200 kW. By the way, the E-GMP voltages are almost exactly double that of Tesla.

[@nevco8774]

When the second case was about the wife to have a dedicated commuter, she needs to drive it. My wife didn't like larger vehicles since the parking was the most important. She drove Leaf, EV6, Ioniq5, Kona EV, Bolt EV, Mach E, Niro EV but liked Bolt EUV due to leg room in the rear, easy parking, hatchback shape, price, range. As a dedicated commuter nobody cares about DC charging speed as long as level 2 charger is available. I would not recommend a LEAF in Los Angeles due to hot climate and quick degradation of air cooled battery.

[@electricant1367]

I’m the husband of the wife in the second case/segment. I too know about the Leaf air cooled battery issues from long ago & would only feel comfortable leasing one. I know they changed battery chemistry to deal with heat long ago. I’ve not followed the Leaf for a while so don’t know if they eventually added active cooling.

[@e-care-books9867]

What an interesting time in EVs! Great BIP show again, Thanks to Out of Spec, Francie, and Kyle for the cool info about VinFast.

[@tomm5936]

If the Kia EV6 is parked and the 12v goes low, the car will start the 800v to charge the 12v. However early cars wouldn’t do this if the 800v was below 30%. Software later updated this to 10% but if the battery has been abused it may still die later.

[@martyndavies1482]

I bet the 12v battery recovers pretty quickly with 800v going into it! LOL, JK. I know the Jaguar i-Pace dies completely when the 12v battery dies. Since I've replaced that it's been behaving itself well.

[@tomm5936]

@@martyndavies1482 yes when the 800v battery is on the 12v is charged in seconds. The issue is when the 800v is off but there continues to be a draw on the 12v. It’s the same if you have a gas engine off but use the 12v for a long time. Kia has a function to automatically turn on the 800v to charge the 12v but it only happened when the 800v was above 30%. After a software upgrade it’s now 10%, this is to protect the 800v from being run so low it’s damaged. Some people parked the car below 30% for days and had something plugged into the 12v which ran it completely down. Then the 12v was damaged. I have had my EV6 parked below freezing for days and I have had no issue with the 12v. I think people make this a bigger issue than it is. Kia updated the software and replaced the 12v under warranty. It’s of course not fun to have a dead car but it was fixed.

[@cordkretzschmar5693]

I own a KIA EV6 GT line since a year with 35.000 km about 20.000 miles. 2 Software updates (not over the air) but no problems. I would buy it again.And 8 years garantie.

[@amperformance7998]

I, too, have had my EV6 for a year (in a couple weeks) and 32,000kms and have had no serious issues. A couple of software updates installed during a scheduled service, a slightly warped exterior trim piece, and one case of "Zombie Mode" that cleared up in five minutes (I suspect because I was washing the car and repeatedly touching the door handle sensor).

[@stephenbateman7254]

Case 3: RWD EV6. 300 mile EPA range, metal roof or option for sunroof, and is more of a hatchback wagon than a taller crossover

[@ecarfun]

16:35, please, someone mention a lower model of a used/new mini cooper SE, lol (maybe expensive repairs eventually) (although super reliable)

[@gridjac]

I have a ‘24 Ioniq 5. The older models did have ICCU issues causing 12v battery problems. The 12v batteries themselves, aren’t great. I bought a jump pack to keep in the car just in case. If the battery fails, I’ll just replace the 12v with a good deep cycle aftermarket battery and be done with it. The Ioniq 5 does have the coolant flush which is anywhere between $400-$700. I didn’t know that when I leased mine, but I’m not too particularly concerned. To me maintenance is part of ownership. The Kia EV6 doesn’t have that maintenance item.

[@ChicagoBob123]

CATL batteries going to drop 50% by mid year. Not sure when that will trickle down. Maybe you guys can figure that out let us know

[@llaughridge]

Ioniq 5 has two cooling loops, the battery loop requires special coolant and a periodic flush. ALL OTHER eGMP models (EV6, Ioniq6, etc) have a single coolant loop and do not require the special coolant flush. It’s a design difference with the Ioniq 5.

[@COSolar6419]

It is difficult to get reliable data on reliability. We’ve had no issues with our Ioniq 5 after two years and 23,000 miles. That is just one data point. I have enjoyed the more relaxed road trips in an EV. The car is often ready to go before I am.

[@frankcoffey]

The smart thing to do is to lease an EV this year if you don't want a Tesla. There is a better chance of getting the federal credit and by the time your lease is up NACS equipped EVs will be available.

[@Cedar1956]

I'm going in tomorrow for a software update regarding the ICCU which controls the amount of juice going into the ICCU and prevents the frying of the ICCU. (happened to me) Apparently, once the over-throttling is controlled with this 5/24 software update, the ICCU is protected and charges the 12V as designed (the 12v problems go away - hopefully). The rest of the car as been extremely reliable.

[@BatteriesIncludedPodcast]

Thanks for the update. Sounds great.

[@driftlessheights6177]

Here is an interesting example. Bought an EV6 2022 Wind AWD last month (December). Live in the country on gravel road. Hit a deer on a foggy night @25mph. Headlight shattered, hood bent and car dead except for hazard light and dome light. Later found that a wire to the front engine was cut. This is not the fault of the car and we hit a lot of deer in Minnesota. However with no power I could not put it into neutral and push to side of road. Would have been easy with ICE to shift a dead car. It sat at an angle on a public road for 15 hours until they got out the correct tow truck to handle locked wheels. Issue this brings up: 1 Can't put in neutral when dead. Do other EVs have same issue? 2 Could not use local body shop, so had to tow 55 miles. 3 KIA body shop said the biggest repair they had ever done for EV6 was a few surface dings. So they are inexperienced with a car this complex. Worries me. Will see how long it take for them to get the parts. I love this car but this is one issue they don't talk about.

[@rp9674]

California- no rebates. Effective November 8, 2023, CVRP is closed to new applications.

[@belletie]

Although charging speed is not the biggest deal, charging availability, reliability and location/amenities are a tremendous factor when roadtripping and advantage Tesla.

[@teslatim78]

My 2022 ev6 needed the 12v replaced after 1 year. Waited 3 months for a new amplifier, and some trim pieces needed to be fixed. EXCEPTIONAL car after a few bugs were fixed. My Tesla needed the complete OctoManifold replaced, 2 steering wheels, a charge port door, couple seat sensors. Still a great car and a few bugs worked out.

[@electricant1367]

Thanks for the tips. I submitted the question about which car would be good for my wife.

[@berthogendoorn2133]

On the inquiry "My Kia EV6 become an expensive brick", I ordered a Hyundai Ioniq 5 AWD Limited back in Oct 2021, (this was our road tripper as we have a 2020 Kia Soul EV). We received it Oct 2022, took delivery drove it for 2 weeks than thought I would try DC fast charging, it failed and after 6 service visits and 7 months it was finally fixed so I sold it, and as you know Hyundai are Technicians are experts in ICE vehicles, not so well trained in EV's and my car was the proof, sold it and got a 2023 Tesla Modal Y AWD Long Range not an issue (Tesla only ever built EV's so they are experts in the field), excellent build yes I ma very happy!

[@Lorwildrose]

Had a VW ice car that had bad 12V drain problem, not just EV drain, it’s the operating systems that I think is draining 12V?

[@rinbine2713]

Why? They didn't update EV6's 12V battery issues? They fixed it.

[@nevco8774]

To sesrch for a sedan in North American EV market it is not an easy task: VW ID7, Hyunday Ioniq5, BMW i4, i5, MB EQE, EQS sedans, Tesla Model 3, S.

ya I wish manufacturers would offer their evs with no sunroof as iam a solid metal roof buyer also.

[@xrotaryguy]

Ohhhhh... Don't buy a Spark EV at this point. GM is no longer supporting that vehicle. It's an enthusiast's car for a technically inclined person at this point.

[@markday5797]

YES a very expensive brick.

[@pnketia]

I won't buy or recommend any Kia/Hyundai EV's until they use a titanium battery guard for their battery packs. It is crazy to think the battery can get damaged by road debris and end up being totaled because their battery replacement costs exceed the price of the entire vehicle. Bjorn hit a piece of ice road debris while testing the new model 3 and had little to no damage to the underside unlike the Kia customer in Canada.

[@cafe88racer53]

$45k replacement lol