Tried out the Tesla Magic Dock - only got 42 kW
imgur.com/a/ADtaaQZ/
imgur.comPosted Mar 30, 2023, 3:04 AM UTC
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imgur.comYeah, sadly this is well documented due to 400V system on tesla stations. Kia says they are aware…
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Let me not hold my breath while Kia gets right on fixing this along with battery preconditioning. It should be 100kw. Kia made a great car and then forgot to actually support it.
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Hopefully they can software update somehow. It sucks that non-infotainment has to be taken to the dealer for update.
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Thanks for the info. This is seems to be what was reported by other EV6 owners. However can you provide more details? What was the temperature outside at the time and how long did you let it charge for before you stopped? Did you do any battery preconditioning before hand? Reason I ask is because the GV60 was recorded as getting 97kW after it warmed up (started around 60kW). There shouldn't be anything fundamentally different between the GV60 and the EV6 when it comes to battery pack and DC fast charging. So if the EV6 cant reach the 97kW or close to 100kW it has to be something Kia did in the software that is buggy that could in theory be fixed without a hardware change. But that is my hope.
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I used a scan tool on this trip so I can tell you the battery temps. I wish I’d screenshotted it for exact numbers. The minimum battery temp was still in the 60s when I pulled up, after an earlier EA charge. I did not precondition. However there’s no indication the car was cold gated as it applied the battery heater during the charge and within 5 minutes it was 70+ but the rate did not change.
I charged for 20 minutes total and it was rock steady at that 42 kW rate the whole time, uncanny even. Usually I see some small variation.
I agree it surprises me the behavior doesn’t match the Genesis.
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Thanks for the additional info. Well it does appear to be something that needs to be tweaked on the Kia software side or Tesla supercharger logic side. But I guess something is better than nothing. I have seen there is an issue with many Ioniq 5's where it starts to charge but then stops right after that, which Hyundai said they'd work on getting fixed (in coordination with Tesla) so the EV6 is at least working, even if its not at full capability.
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The design is super clean and impressive, after activation you just pull the handle and the CCS adapter comes out attached to it. It started pretty quickly after plugging in and then ramped up to 42 kW and stayed there. I would have expected a bit higher based on specified 100 kW max for 400V boost charging in e-GMP.
I monitored the motor and inverted temperature during the charge with a scan tool and I didn’t see much increase in temperature. The battery temperature increased as expected. I did not precondition the battery but it was still 60+F minimum temp from a previous charge.
All in all a very clean solution for CCS charging unfortunately limited in location and only suitable for secondary/backup charging for 800V cars which will have to boost voltage.
Cost was $0.49/kWh.
There’s one of those review channels that had the same speed - I can’t remember the reason for the slow speed but the takeaway was they likely wouldn’t use the SC again.
I believe the reason for the slow speeds is because the EV6 is built off the 800v architecture. Teslas only use the 400V, and it results in the EV6 only being able to draw a max of like 40-45kW on their chargers.
KIA is aware of this and is seeing if there is something they can do on the software side to speed up the charging.
The car has a theoretical maximum of 100 kW for boost conversion. This is a hardware limitation. I’m not sure why only 42 kW was seen instead, but it seems more likely to be fixable by software changes on either car or charger end. Then you could see up to 100 kW.
Thanks for the breakdown of your experience. I'm going on a trip to the Adirondacks in New York this summer and probably taking my EV6 for it. I'll go by 2 or 3 of the Tesla superchargers along my route that I could use for charging, but the more I hear about these kinds of real world testimonials, the more I realize that I can't seriously treat it as anything other than a backup option.
This particular site is great for testing like I did but bad as an extra charging site. There’s an electrify America station right across the street, so I knew I could charge even if the Tesla charging didn’t work. But there’s no reason to use Tesla over EA for EV6 when they are in the same town.
42 kW is slow, but it’s better than nothing to grab a quick 10% to get you to the next charger down the road if you unexpectedly used more power on your trip. I’d love to see some in West Virginia for this reason, the state is currently a CCS desert.
Great points all around. I think 42 kW would be great if you were sitting down for a meal, or something like that, though. I don't take Level 2 charging very seriously for 0.5-2 hour stops, but something like 42 kW Level 3 charging would be very helpful in that scenario. Otherwise: do what you can to get to an EA or something similar, yes.
The only option for a trip down into West Virginia is a Harley Davidson "Fast Hog" that is only 25 kW, so 42 kW would definitely be an improvement. But also hopefully NEVI money means WV gets more charging infrastructure. Come on people, it's the closest you'll ever come to coal powered cars. WV should love that.
There was a Denny's at the Supercharger I stopped at, although I did not find that option particularly compelling. I want a charging stop with GOOD food and coffee! There are definitely times when I'd be happy to charge slower during a good sit down meal.