[LittleRedSpaceship]

Hi all!
I'm pretty happy with my 4w old RWD 77kWh (basic trim).
Pretty responsive, not really missing anything except for the much covered lack of optional battery preheating before DC charging.

However, I have been unable to DC charge at more than around 135kW. I've been using Ionity (good deal here in DK), and they're rated at 350kW. I believe the car should be able to accept around 235kW (?)
Same experience regardless of outside temperature and number of other cars using same group of chargers (I assume they do to some extent share available power).
Charging power depends (as expected) on battery temperature and battery level. I have seen (using an OBD dongle and the CarScanner app) battery temperatures up to 25 degrees celcius while charging, but have never seen power beyond 135kW.

What is your experience with DC charging ?

 

[lukez]

The speed also depends on your SOC, what state of charge were you at when you saw 25 degrees?

 

[LittleRedSpaceship]

The speed also depends on your SOC, what state of charge were you at when you saw 25 degrees?

When I've seen 25 degrees, the SOC was between 70 and 75%, as I recall. Wasn't logging, unfortunately.
I'd of course expect the overall experience to be slower than advertised ('up to...') with the temperatures around here (2-8 degrees), But yesterday I charged all the way from just below 20% to 80%, still not above 135kW-ish. Saw 25 degrees during that.
(and I'm on celcius )

 

[lukez]

No way you'd see anywhere close to max power at 70% SOC. Be glad you saw 135kw at that SOC!
You'll see the max power on the low end of SOC, but the problem is the battery is still "cold". This is why people are complaining and saying it needs to be pre-heated before plugging in. If you were at 25 degrees at 20% you'd see some crazy high numbers.
Flooring it a bunch of times and max regen before charging should warm it up at least a little.

 

[JamesInWeston]

Just returned from a drive from south to central Florida. Two fast charging sessions at Electrify America at 350kW units each time. SOC for first on Saturday was 25% with max charging speed of 239kW, second on Sunday was 38% with max charging speed of 237.7kW. Both sessions after at least 40 minutes of driving at 50-80 mph, weather was, well, Florida with temps in low 80's.

 

[Hodor]

Chaging session from 8% to 80%. Outside temp was 4.5 C (40F). It did hit 152 kW at peak, but as can be seen the battery took a very long time to warm up (battery min (green) must be over 15C (60F) for high speed to kick in and that took almost 12 mins of charging at 70-75kW to get this).

Was on an 350kW Ionity charger.

 

[DGK]

View attachment 2983

Chaging session from 8% to 80%. Outside temp was 4.5 C (40F). It did hit 152 kW at peak, but as can be seen the battery took a very long time to warm up (battery min (green) must be over 15C (60F) for high speed to kick in and that took almost 12 mins of charging at 70-75kW to get this).

Was on an 350kW Ionity charger.

Looks like about 32-35 minutes for 8-80% with 40F outside temperature, correct? My first use of a 350kW charger reached a maximum of 68.9kW charging from 46 to 60% during a 15 minute charge with an outside temperature arounf 32F (0C), which is consistent with what you found.

 

[LittleRedSpaceship]

Thank you all for the feedback - sounds like my experience is not unusual at all.

As moving to sunny FL is not really an option, I guess I'll have to wait for warmer weather and/or the much needed battery preheating ⛄

 

[lukez]

Thank you all for the feedback - sounds like my experience is not unusual at all.

As moving to sunny FL is not really an option, I guess I'll have to wait for warmer weather and/or the much needed battery preheating ⛄

Yes agreed, my purchase decision in the next year will be based on if they resolve this or not.

 

[ppheijnen]

Thank you all for the feedback - sounds like my experience is not unusual at all.

As moving to sunny FL is not really an option, I guess I'll have to wait for warmer weather and/or the much needed battery preheating ⛄

Heating the battery is essential, I do hope Kia provides it and during the summer wel may want pre-cooling to preven overheating...
I will not go often to do DC charging but when I do I want to maximise the usage. Especially in France where you pay per minute instead of KwH..

 

[Big Butter Jesus]

Heating the battery is essential, I do hope Kia provides it and during the summer wel may want pre-cooling to preven overheating...
I will not go often to do DC charging but when I do I want to maximise the usage. Especially in France where you pay per minute instead of KwH..

I believe if you select the fast charging station as your destination in the car's navigation system, it will start to precondition the battery. I haven't done a control test, but the one time I fast charged the battery temp started increasing via odb2 scanner once I set my destination to the DCFC station. I was able to achieve approximately 200kw peak when charging from 15%-83% at ~40F outside temp.

 

[Hodor]

I believe if you select the fast charging station as your destination in the car's navigation system, it will start to precondition the battery. I haven't done a control test, but the one time I fast charged the battery temp started increasing via odb2 scanner once I set my destination to the DCFC station. I was able to achieve approximately 200kw peak when charging from 15%-83% at ~40F outside temp.

Currently there is no precondition of the battery as you describe... that has been confirmed multiple times. Kia has promised some kind of precondition but this is not yet implemented.

I have personally observed that nothing happens on the battery heater until you plug it into a charger, even if the navigation was confirmed to be a charger in the navigation.

 

[SpyderGTA]

Big Butter Jesus...

What area of the US are you in and what was the outside temp if you recall?

 

[Hodor]

What area of the country are you in and what was the outside temp if you recall?

Denmark in EU. And it was 4.5 C outside.

Think about it... why should Kia annouce that they are working in battery precondition if they already have it? That does not make any sense really

 

[Big Butter Jesus]

Big Butter Jesus...

What area of the US are you in and what was the outside temp if you recall?

Midwest US. Temps were high 30's, low 40's after dark. I had been on the highway for a while. Used an EA 350KW charger. 15-83% in about 23 minutes.

Currently there is no precondition of the battery as you describe... that has been confirmed multiple times. Kia has promised some kind of precondition but this is not yet implemented.

I have personally observed that nothing happens on the battery heater until you plug it into a charger, even if the navigation was confirmed to be a charger in the navigation.

I'll run some tests, and do a control. It was my first long-ish distance drive with the car, and my (thusfar) only DCFC experience. I have an ODB2 BTLE scanner hooked up and was using the car scanner app. I observed the battery temp going from mid-60's F to 85.

 

[SpyderGTA]

Midwest US. Temps were high 30's, low 40's after dark. I had been on the highway for a while. Used an EA 350KW charger. 15-83% in about 23 minutes.



I'll run some tests, and do a control. It was my first long-ish distance drive with the car, and my (thusfar) only DCFC experience. I have an ODB2 BTLE scanner hooked up and was using the car scanner app. I observed the battery temp going from mid-60's F to 85.

So you both are saying that plotting to a DCFC from the built-in nav started the battery heating?

 

[Big Butter Jesus]

No, Hodor is saying it does not. I'm saying I thought it did, but I have a sample size of one and fallible human memory.

I don't know if there are software differences between the EU and US. He very well may be correct and I misinterpreted what was going on.

 

[Hodor]

No, Hodor is saying it does not. I'm saying I thought it did, but I have a sample size of one and fallible human memory.

I don't know if there are software differences between the EU and US. He very well may be correct and I misinterpreted what was going on.

I honestly think KIA would annouce it if they have battery precondition in place.. as this is one of the highest complaints about the car overall.

You can heat the battery manually by driving style alone, and if you have a warmed garage you can keep the battery temp higher for a while. I see that battery min temp must be above 15C for app 150kw charging and 25C for even higher charging... but this also depends on SOC not being to high. So many parameters to hit a 'perfect' charging...

I had a session where I navigated to the charger, and I arrived with 3C in battery temp... it took 13 mins at app 70kw to get to 15C but at that time the SOC is deep into the 40's so I never got any really nice numbers. But I also had 26% SOC at start so that was quite high as well

 

[ppheijnen]

I heard last year that there would be an update in second quarter of 2022 where they would also have significant update for the battery management.
But in 2022 I have heard nothing about it anymore. But I do expect, hope that KIA will attend this issue as all HW components do exist and it will be a huge contribution to charging experience. And being at a fast DC charging spot to arrive after people and leave before they are finished is a huge advertisement, marketing experience to show the excellence of the car.

The other way around knowing the car is capable, but just the preconditioning is not done well and you start with slow charging will not help on the image KIA wants to spread over the world....

 

[harrim99]

Sharing this that I've seen, that should set expectations for charge speed based on SOC and battery min temp

So aim for min temp 25C and soc 20% to have a shot at 225kw speed.

Prize for first person who posts a photo of the charger/car showing this (not really) I've not got more than 170kw in my use. The battery precondition coming this year should definitely help!

Regards
Mark