- Yes it's 1yr trial of ultimate. it's available afterwards at $29/m or $199/yr. cheaper than onstar was BTW. - Hotspot is 3m/3gb trial, Verizon only. sim not changeable, I asked Kia Premier Support. you can add to existing Verizon acount as a data device however. it's $25/m for unlimited. kia connect doesn't have wifi that I've seen to connect to, and even then I doubt it would hold connection once car is turned off.

 

kia connect doesn't have wifi that I've seen to connect to, and even then I doubt it would hold connection once car is turned off.

Would you mind checking yr car? I saw a Kia video for another model where it specifically mentioned connecting to WiFi or phone hotspot. The settings to connect to WiFi is under the WiFi icon which may be diff now for the EV6 -

 

This is BS. I would expect at the bare minimum that the $29/m would include some basic data plan even if it was limited. So now to use this we have to pay $29/m plus the Verizon data plan for $25/m? That is insane.

 

Which is why I'm hoping it can connect to my phone hotspot. Its also BS that I cannot just stick in my own SIM to get connected. Guess all these techno wizardry/features dont come cheap! Car makers advertise all these fancy features but hide in small prints/never mentions that you need to pay extra to get them to work!

 

I have a 2019 Niro PHEV Premium EX that includes three years of UVO (now Kia Connect) Eco/Ultimate service, which expires in July. After it expires, there will be two more years of free "Lite" service if I don't renew. But that's the Niro - just saying that I have some experience with the service, and I was looking at my options if I decided to keep the car.

IMO, Android Auto/Apple Carplay can replace a lot (not all) of the Kia Connect online functionality. Roadside assistance is a pretty cheap add-on to my car insurance (I removed it when I bought the Niro). Hotspot is included at no extra charge in my phone plan (T-Mobile Essentials 55+) so I have it anyway.

I am somewhat surprised that the Kia Connect service with the EV6 is only one year, but its not a critical issue for me for the reasons above. I am confident that the Verizon service is hotspot only. Hotspot wasn't provided in my Niro and is not required for the other Kia Connect/UVO services to work (i.e. Kia Connect is a separate telematics data service).

 

IMO, Android Auto/Apple Carplay can replace a lot (not all) of the Kia Connect online functionality. Roadside assistance is a pretty cheap add-on to my car insurance (I removed it when I bought the Niro). Hotspot is included at no extra charge in my phone plan (T-Mobile Essentials 55+) so I have it anyway.

I am somewhat surprised that the Kia Connect service with the EV6 is only one year, but its not a critical issue for me for the reasons above. I am confident that the Verizon service is hotspot only. Hotspot wasn't provided in my Niro and is not required for the other Kia Connect/UVO services to work (i.e. Kia Connect is a separate telematics data service).

I also prefer AA but unfortunately AA/Carplay does not show on the HUD, so I've just paid for a HUD that I cannot fully use. I believe the HDA2 and Navi-based smart cruise control need the internal Nav, so will also lose this if using AA. Oh well....

 

How well does the Find My Car thing work on Kia Connect? Looks like I'd have to keep the $15/no plan plus data to use that.

 

One of the reasons is that the antennas built-in to the car are much stronger than a phone antenna. This article actually talks about it coming in very handy during their testing where two phones couldn't get signal but car had no issues.

The article also has a graphic for Kia Connect saying "up to" 5 years of complimentary services but looks like very limited services.

Kia EV6 first drive: 10 things I didn't know about the big 310-mile every-person sportwagon — Electrek

Kia flew us out to wine and “winding road” country to test the new EV6, which is coming a bit late to the US, as it’s been out for a while in its native Korea and Europe already. So that means I’ve had months to digest the information about the car, its characteristics, and its place in the...

apple.news

 

Funny, but here in Denmark I have 7 years free Kia Connect on my EV6, which follow the car, despite how many owners it will have.
And ALL functions are free.

 

Still surprises me that Kia charges for their terrible app. I've seen it take 15 minutes for a command to be sent to my Niro EV and one day it just stopped working all day long.
Tesla's app is far quicker and free. I've never had a problem with it and it looks far better too. Also can use my own phone as a hotspot. Just another feather in Tesla's cap.

Remote lock and unlock should be in the lite version at a minimum.

 

Here in Norway it is like Fender56 says. 7 years free Kia Connect, I even reset my account and registered again which then gave me 7 new years from the date I registered. Seems bad that you have to pay a subscription for using some features on the app elsewhere.

 

I think I'm still not understanding (I'm pretty tech dense). If we get the app's plus package for $149 so that we can set the climate control before we get to the car, do we also need a data package for that to work? I definitely don't need to use my car as a router for the passengers to have wifi, but I want to be able to tell the car to heat up or cool down 15 minutes before I get in it, and I certainly want to control charging from the app. Does any of that require a data package?

 

No, you do NOT need the data package. The Verizon data package is for using the car as a hotspot, period. Kia Connect uses its own independent cellular service.

 

Thanks, that's a relief.

Interesting question regarding how it will do OTA updates. Certainly no one wants to visit a dealership every time it needs an update.

 

Since the car can act as a wifi hotspot it could also connect to a wifi hub.

 

The fact that I need to enable the WIFI hotspot every time I start the car is a big issue for me. If it would turn on automatically with the car and if I could use T-Mobile I would consider it. For now I will just enable the hotspot on my phone when kids want to watch YouTube and save $25/month.

 

Does anyone know any details about the Verizon hotspot data plan? Is it also $25 for non-Verizon customers? How much data can you use before they start throttling? What happens when you drive out of range (roaming) or out of the country (Canada or Mexico)?

 

IIRC, it’s $25/month for everyone, including Verizon customers. No breaks as it’s a wholly separate service. I don’t use it as my Verizon phone seems to get service everywhere. I don’t have kids that need wifi in the car and my plan has unlimited, un-throttled (I think) data with free hotspot. I just use that for my tablet and laptop when needed. I fully realize that won’t work for a lot of people/families.

When I have my Volt with OnStar, the OnStar folks tried to get me to subscribe to their data plan because “the car has a better antenna than your phone, so it receives better service”. Ok? I never found that to be true during the OnStar free trial, nor the Kia free trial.

YMMV

EDIT: I just looked at Verizon here and found Verizon users may be eligible for $5/month discount. Follow the link, but here’s a screenshot.

 

Is there anyone using the Kia hotspot feature?

 

Has anyone played around with the hotspot trial (supported by Verizon), or even signed up to the paid version post trial? On mine, when connecting a tablet or Android device (MMB from Joyeauto), certain services or sites seem to be blocked. Devices connected indicate that they have Internet connectivity, I can do some browsing, but streaming in apps like HBO Max, Prime Video or Netflix don't work and Connection to Google Play services (and other Google login services) indicate a server error.
To me it looks like the connection filters these, but I am wondering if that's due to it being a trial which Verizon decided for some dum reason to limit, or if the limitation will persist on the paid service.
Any reckons?

 

Just yesterday I received an email stating that my KIA WIFI hotspot powered by VZ had expired and to click a link to reactivate. I didn't even know the car had WIFI hotspot, not likely I'll reactivate.

 

LOL I never (or, had yet) bothered to active my free 3-month VZ hotspot subscription. TBH I'm not sure I'd ever find a practical need to take advantage of it, other than perhaps if I happened to be travelling through an area where VZW has stronger signal coverage vs. AT&T.

 

what about data the car uses itself without Kia connect? For example, for traffic flow do I need a subscription?

 

No you don't need to pay for that, Kia already has a deal with Verizon most likely.

 

I thought traffic data displayed in the native Kia Infotainment/nav system was being fed from the HD Radio or SXM signal?

 

i believe the HD Radio info is different. It displays in a different screen, not in the Navi

 

Back on the topic of the original post:
Since some of you will be approaching your one year ownership anniversary in the next few months, what paid plan are you intending to get?

We all get one complimentary year of the Ultimate plan which costs $200/yr ($16.67/month) when paid annually. Ultimate features live/online navigation, including updated POIs, and advanced voice controls, including Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa on your phone/smart home devices.
Plus at $150/yr or $12.50/month is the lowest plan that still enables climate preconditioning (remote start). You'll need to subscribe to either Ultimate or Plus to keep that feature.

I'll be getting my new EV6 in the next week so I wanted to know what your experience is without live/online navigation, since people mentioned that feature is used for battery preconditioning at DCFCs. Without a subscription, you'd only get a new charger location database with the bi-annual map updates.

 

what paid plan are you intending to get?

I'll let my plan expire in June, give Android Auto (AA) a try, and put roadside assistance back on my auto insurance at a nominal cost. I haven't relied on any of the features in Kia Connect that AA doesn't provide (particularly, nav routing with live traffic). The only downside is the wired AA connection and continuously charging my phone, but then I could add a wireless AA box as reviewed elsewhere in the forum and gain some additional features.

I can always subscribe to a paid Kia Connect plan later if I find a compelling feature that I miss. I just don't see it right now.

 

I will not renew either. Kia Connect is very buggy for me. For example yesterday I was able to change AC charging from 80% to 90% and when I try to change it back a day later was throwing error messages.
I used remote climate start one time this winter so far. The car is kept in a garage, I can see this being needed more for people that park outside in regions where Winter is very cold. I can always subscribe later if I feel that is needed.

 

The car is kept in a garage, I can see this being needed more for people that park outside in regions where Winter is very cold. I can always subscribe later if I feel that is needed.

Hmm so it seems a lot of people park in a garage. I have a garage with home charging but I can't park in there cause my garage is used for household storage. So I always park outside. I live in New Mexico so the summers are really hot and lasts about 6 months. Winters can get cold for 3 months out of the year.

I'd like to hear more about remote climate's usefulness from people who do park outside. But probably my best data point will be starting to use the feature in T minus 5 days once I get my EV6.

 

I don't plan to renew either once the free subscription is up. It uses Verizon wireless for its data connection, which is marginal to awful where I live. So the app frequently cannot connect to the car. That's bad enough when it is free, but I will not pay for the service.

 

Indeed, and combine that with the outages every now and then I can't see how Kia can continue to justify the price for their service.

 

I have been without for most of last month. Just waiting for the email with the discount offer to see if I will get it or not. I really just want it so that I can lock the door remotely. Thats all I ever use it for. Oh, and checking to see how much charge I have left while charging.

I dont park in the garage, too many toys in the two garages. So the matte car stays outside. Have rarely used the remote start/climate. Mainly because I dont have a set time to leave. So I may remember to turn on the remote climate/start. But by the time I get to the car, its been like 1.5-2 hours and the car is off.

 

Just waiting for the email with the discount offer
So did Kia ever come through with a discounted subscription?

 

I recently got Kia EV6 and during enabling the hotspot, I did not see anything about fees.

Anyway, is it feasible to get the hotspot using xfinity or the other methods? $20/m seems to be a bit high. The only benefit of the hotspot might be checking the dashcam in a real-time basis. Do we see any other benefit that can be worth of $20/m?

PS: In my Niro EV 2020, I was mainly counting on my mobile internet.

 

You get 3 months free with the car. The Wifi turns off with the car and has to be enabled every time you start the car. The car only work with Verizon I believe. I gave up and just use my phone wifi when my kid wants to browse the internet.