About a month and a half into owning a 2024 Kia EV6 my sentiments on range anxiety are the same as a user on the EV6 Reddit board: "I should've gotten more miles on my lease. I love driving this car."
Like a lot of people these days, I took advantage of the aggressive EV lease deals in place right now to get a well-equipped EV6 Wind AWD for two years and 20,000 miles. I'm about a tenth of the way into that, so I could stand to slow down a bit—but I really do enjoy this thing so far.
- 2024 Kia EV6 Wind AWD Long-Term Test Update: August 2024
- Miles: 2,125
- Average expected range: 306-320 miles
- Average observed efficiency: 3.4 miles per kWh
- Gas saved: 95 gallons
Part of that is the fact that so far, the EV6 has far exceeded my expectations on range. And owning a modern EV is a great educator on how range works—yes, even more than constantly testing EVs, as I've done for the past few years at InsideEVs and writing for other outlets. For journalists like me, we usually get a car to test for a week or a weekend, so ownership teaches you different lessons in consistency.
I was reluctant at first to get a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive EV. While they deliver more power and present some advantages in weather, they get less range. But single-motor, rear-wheel-drive EVs are hard to find in the Northeast (and in general) and the deal on the EV6 was so good, I figured, "Why not just go for it?"
Plus, the EV6 is mighty impressive at going the distance even in AWD form. My car is EPA-estimated to deliver 282 miles of range, which means it exceeds many RWD and single-motor EVs. The top RWD models here get up to 310 miles of estimated range.
So here's a nice surprise: at a full 100% charge, I'm often seeing that number or better. The most I've seen at "full" lately is 322 miles. That's massively impressive for a car at this size and with this much capability and power.
But here's where the caveats come in, and it's where living with an EV really teaches you what you're in for.
Many new EV owners go into the experience thinking they're in for a hard and fast number: if a car is rated at 300 miles of range, it had better get 300 miles of range. And that's a fair enough expectation, I think. It's also why so many customers have been disappointed when they see less range than a manufacturer promised. Tesla has gotten into trouble for this, but it's hardly alone.
Hardware not living up to its promises is one thing. How EV range works is another thing. In this car's case—as with many modern EVs—range is a constant calculation, something that's being adjusted on the fly at all times based on how and where you've been driving and in what situations. As Kia puts it, "Range will vary based on driving habits, vehicle maintenance, charging practice, battery age, weather, temperature, and road/traffic conditions."
That won't surprise longtime EV veterans, but it is a surprise to newcomers. Here's another one: modern gas cars work quite similarly, with your engine computer adjusting average MPG and projected range based on a number of factors. You just tend to get less anxious about it because, well, gas stations are everywhere.
In my EV6's case, those strong numbers come down to how I've been using it. So far I charge at my home garage (often once a week or less) and have primarily used it for short highway trips to towns near my own and highway travel of around 30 to 60 miles per trip. And I've done this in very pleasant upstate New York summer weather with temperatures largely around 60 to 80 degrees when the car is on the road. It's why I'm seeing as much as 4 miles per kWh in overall efficiency quite regularly.
In other words, I know I'm seeing ideal conditions here. The weather's been great, the trips haven't been too long, I know how and when to charge and I have the right equipment at home to do it. It's when all those factors aren't in place that things get dicey for EV owners, and I try to keep those many different use cases in mind as I test this car and write about going electric.
I've read mixed things about the EV6's range consistency. Some owners and long-term testers say it consistently exceeds expectations, while some say it falls short. In my case, I've seen fairly dramatic drops after hitting the highway, like starting a day at 315 miles of range and then dropping to 244 miles estimated after driving just 42 miles. That math must be frustrating for some people, but you kind of have to understand why it's happening; unlike a gas car, highway driving will eat into your range the most.
I had one instance recently where I was late for a thing and went a bit faster on the highway in Sport Mode than I'd like to elaborate on here. Nothing crazy, of course, just hustling. And my "tank" went from full to under 200 miles in fairly quick order. But the same is true for a gas car, isn't it? Drive harder and faster and you use more fuel. Energy has to come from somewhere.
My tricks to getting the most out of the EV6 so far work like this:
- I make sure to have the i-Pedal adjustable regenerative braking system always engaged, and I tend to like Level 2 or Level 3 best. On the highway, the car's highest setting—full-on one-pedal driving—will get you the most efficiency.
- I have the auto climate control system engaged pretty much all of the time, and the EV6 even has settings there for how much the A/C or heat blows. Nice.
- I make use of the heated or cooled seats more than just the aforementioned heater or A/C, which use more energy.
- I call my shots carefully and only go above 75 mph or drive in Sport Mode when I know I don't have distance driving ahead of me, or can plug in at home later.
So far I'm very pleased with what I'm getting. But I haven't faced cold weather yet or done a road trip or even an extended highway test (though I have little desire to run it down to 0% for fun, or to submit the flatbed tow expense to my employer, the Motorsport Network.) Even I'll admit the real tests remain to be seen.
A few other notes, in no particular order:
- Most of my gripes with this car, such as they are, aren't even EV-related. They're just car things that could be better. It takes far too much pressure to lock and unlock the doors by pushing the keyless entry switch, for example, and the handles are still awkward to use at times. I wish all EV6 trim levels just popped the handles out like the GT and GT-Line trims do.
- The Kia Access smartphone app (which may merit its own review) is pretty good, but surely could be better. It lets me monitor a variety of things from my iPhone, schedule maintenance, track its location and even take 360-degree photos. But the "estimated range" shows zero miles most of the time, which seems to be a common glitch. It does, however, reliably show my charge level.
- The mid-level Wind trim could be a bit better. My car doesn't have a HomeLink garage door opener, for example, and I'm not spending a couple hundred bucks to upgrade a car I'm losing.
- Finally, my 2018 Mazda 3 hatchback—a model that came out in 2013, mind you—offers automatic locking and unlocking upon approach. By contrast, my brand-new, tip-of-the-spear electric vehicle does not. This doesn't seem to be a big thing with Kia, and it's a very missed feature here. (Unless I'm doing something wrong, of course.)
But overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. And I have a lot on my to-do list, from a longer road trip to some vehicle-to-load testing that may or may not involve setting up a TV and a PlayStation in a field somewhere that I run off the car. I'll keep you posted.
What do you want to know so far? Let me know in the comments.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insiddeevs.com
