When testing electric vehicles, one of the things I take for granted is the addition of a charging cable or mobile charger. Almost every new EV comes with a plug as standard, but not our new 2022 Kia EV6 long-term. In fact, it’s not even a paid option on the EV6.
Most owners will shrug off this omission, because if you’re planning to buy an EV6, you’re most likely already planning on installing a Level 2 charger at home to charge it. I, on the other hand, am currently renting a house. My landlord’s garage isn’t wired for 240V power, and I wouldn’t pay the money to prepare a room for EV charging if I end up moving. That leaves me with a charging conundrum.
Trickle-charging an EV with Level 1 power usually allows me to do all the driving I need to do in a week, but since the EV6 doesn’t come with a charger to plug in, I’m 100% at the mercy of public charging stations to juice into the EV6 battery pack. It is both tedious and more expensive to power the EV6 in this way. The annoyance is in the time I have to block some evenings to recharge. Although I live in a densely populated suburb in metro Detroit, the closest fast charger to me is over a 15 minute drive. The extra costs are due to the higher price you pay for fast charging compared to your normal electricity costs at home. A trip to the local Electrify America station with a low battery will cost me about $35 to get back to 100%. Meanwhile, that same amount of electricity at home would cost about $10-$15.
Cost and annoyance aside, having a mobile charger that you can put in the car gives you more peace of mind on a road trip. You could plug in anywhere you can find a power source, and while charging can take forever, charging your EV in an emergency can allow you to take it to a nearby charging station. It’s a safety blanket that you hopefully never need to use, but given the state of disrepair we sometimes find public charging stations in, it’s a safety blanket that we would appreciate.
Oddly enough, the Kia EV6’s twin brother (the Hyundai Ioniq 5) comes with a 120V cable for free, but Kia chose not to have one. This is also new for Kia, because the Niro EV comes with a free cable. Tesla recently decided to remove the included charging cable from the standard equipment list, making it an option that you’ll have to pay for instead. As of now, however, only Tesla and Kia are the ones who find it an unnecessary standard accessory for a new EV.
Some of us have Level 2 home chargers installed that will come in handy when testing the EV6, but the rest of us will have to do without. That said, this kind of charging practice will provide its own type of test. Is it viable to own an EV like the Kia EV6 and not charge it at home? We will see how our feelings change over time.
Related video: