The car of the year, the Kia EV6, has just been made available in a more affordable version, with a 58 kWh battery. We will examine what the latter can do in the particular exercise of long journeys, and see where it stands in relation to the others.
The Let’s EV6 is one of electric cars offering honorable autonomy, with big promises: being able to travel easily thanks to a very fast charge. We will therefore examine this in detail using our reference routes, as we did for the Tesla Model 3 Propulsion and the Tesla Model 3 Long Autonomy.
The rules remain the same as usual: the start is at 100% battery, the finish at 20%, and the vehicle must run at the limit speeds. We will recall the characteristics of the vehicle (autonomy, battery, charging power) and compare them to the reality on the ground.
By taking a look at how the Kia EV6 58kWh’s long journeys go, you’ll be able to compare it to the other vehicles we’ve already faced in this exercise, to check which one best suits your needs, and which will get to you first. good port with the least possible constraints.
Features of the Kia EV6 58 kWh
Freshly available for order, the Kia EV6 58 kWh has an autonomy WLTP of 394 kilometers. As you will see later, do not imagine traveling nearly 400 kilometers on the motorway with, autonomy melting like snow in the sun when driving at 130 km/h.
If its maximum charging power of around 150 kW is not the most impressive, its charging curve is much more so, with a filling of 10 to 80% battery in 18 minutes in optimal conditions, i.e. an average charging power of 135 kW. This is the big advantage of its battery architecture with a voltage of 800 Volts, and this is what gives it a significant advantage over other vehicles in the same range.
In order to plan our reference journeys, we allow ourselves to use different fast charging networks, depending on which proves to be the most practical between Ionity, Fastned, Total energies et les Superchargeurs Tesla which are open to everyone.
As usual, A Better Route Planner is used to plan journeys, with the default reference consumption for the Kia EV6 58 kWh in rear-wheel drive version. Kia’s electric crossover will have a lot to do in this exercise, given that its consumption at high speed is quite high, and that there are still certain axes which are not very well supplied with fast charging stations.
Route planning
In the interest of fairness to the various electric cars in this series, we start trips at 100% battery, considering that you have to pay for this filling at the average price per kWh in France, currently at 0.17 euros. The 58 kWh battery of the Kia EV6 then represents 9,86 euros. We will take this cost into account when taking stock of each major journey.
Our two reference journeys are intended to simulate on one side a summer vacation, and on the other a long winter journey. Initially, it will be a matter of connecting Orléans to Arcachon, for a total of approximately 530 kilometers. We then focus on the 850 kilometers in winter conditions which separate Caen from Chamonix-Mont-Blanc.
For the summer route, the parameters shown in A Better Route Planner are as follows: 25 degrees Celsius outside temperature, no wind, arrival at a charging station with 10% battery remaining and arrival at destination at 20%. For the winter trip, it’s essentially the same, apart from the weather, where we chose a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius.
The balance sheet of the different routes
Two charges minimum to travel 500 kilometers
The Kia EV6 58 kWh asks the minimum two charges to travel the 510 to 530 kilometers that separate Arcachon from Orléans. The first option stays on the highway from start to finish, and requires three charging stops.
The first charge is at the Ionity station in Poitiers, 200 kilometers after departure and only takes 9 minutes. Indeed, charging the Kia EV6 is generally very fast: going from 14% to 50% battery is done in less than 10 minutes, at a cost of 14.40 euros.
The second charge of this journey is only 80 kilometers further, at the Poitou-Charentes rest area, again at Ionity, for a total of 21 minutes and a cost of 26.80 euros. Finally, a 13-minute top-up charge at Totalenergies in Saint-André-de-Cubzac is necessary to arrive at your destination with 20% battery. With Totalenergies’ per-minute pricing (0.65 euro per minute), the cost of this 24 kWh charge comes to 8.45 euros.
Thus, counting the starting home load, the total price of the summer trip is 60 euros in this first case. The expected average consumption is 234 Wh/km: the total journey time is 5 hours and 30 minutes (43 minutes charging, 4 hours and 46 minutes driving).
Source : Abetterrouteplanner
Source : Abetterrouteplanner
The other possibility is to go through Angoulême and its Tesla Supercharger open to all (27 minutes of charging for 24.13 euros), after charging at the Ionity station in Poitiers as was the case for the motorway journey ( 11 minutes for 18 euros).
Thus, this second option requires only 38 minutes of charging in two times, in order to travel 510 kilometers for a total travel time of 5 hours and 32 minutes. In terms of cost, it is lower than the first option with a total of 52 euros. Consumption also, since it is planned at 215 Wh/km.
A winter journey that requires concessions
If the summer route seen above was not complicated after all, we will see that the long winter route linking Caen to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc is not easy aboard the Kia EV6 58 kWh. Five recharges are necessary, but in addition to that, some portions require the driver to reduce his speed, otherwise rallying the next charger is impossible.
The impact of the outside temperature seems not negligible in the case of the EV6, since the first charge at 190 kilometers from the start requires not to exceed 110 km/h to comply with the constraints imposed (arrival of at least 10% battery).
Twenty-six minutes of recharging at Totalenergies (16.90 euros) later, direction the Aire de la Réserve on the A6, where a long charge is required at Ionity before leaving (37 minutes for 35.20 euros). This is the one and only charge that exceeds 30 minutes, but despite this, care must be taken not to exceed 120 km/h to reach the next available charger in this direction of the motorway: the Tesla Supercharger in Beaune.
Only 11 minutes of charging are necessary (13 euros) to reach the next Ionity station, in Mâcon, where a large 25-minute charge awaits us (28.80 euros). The last charge of the journey is to be made at the Tesla Supercharger in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois for 15 minutes (16.60 euros), which should allow you to arrive in Chamonix with 20% of battery remaining.
In total, these are almost two hours of charging which are necessary, five stopsfor a cost – including home charging – which is close to the 120 euros. The journey time including charges comes to just ten hours for these 850 kilometres. The estimated consumption is 268 Wh / km, which would correspond to a theoretical autonomy of just 215 kilometers, obviously far from the promises in the WLTP cycle.
Consumption, cost of recharging and range
We summarize the costs and charging times (including home charging) in the table below. You can visualize as we go through our examples where the vehicle you are interested in is positioned in relation to the others on a similar journey.
| Vehicle | Summer ride cost | Summer ride charging time | Total summer journey time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Model 3 Propulsion | 36 – 49 € | 31 min | 5 h 09 min |
| Tesla Model 3 Long Autonomy | 31 – 45 € | 13 – 25 min | 4 h 56 min |
| EV6 58 kWh | 52 – 60 € | 38 – 43 min | 5 h 30 min |
| BMW i4 | 48 – 58 € | 22 – 37 min | 5 h 11 min |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 72 € | 36 min | 5 h 16 min |
| Vehicle | Winter trip cost | Winter ride charging time | Total winter journey time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Model 3 Propulsion | 102 € | 1 h 42 min | 9 h 16 min |
| Tesla Model 3 Long Autonomy | 101,3 € | 1 h 02 min | 8 h 27 min |
| EV6 58 kWh | 120 € | 1 h 54 min | 9 h 59 min |
| BMW i4 | 147 € | 1 h 32 min | 9 h 08 min |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 145 € | 1 h 29 min | 9 h 14 min |
Conclusion
The big summer trip we have chosen brings a cost per 100 kilometers between 10.20 and 11.30 euros, which is close to a thermal vehicle consuming about five liters per 100 kilometers. This may seem high for an electric vehicle, but this is unfortunately the reality of long journeys todaywith skyrocketing fast charging rates.
In winter, with 120 euros for 850 kilometers covered, we arrive at a rate of 14.10 euros per 100 kilometers, which it is however possible to optimize a little. Indeed, an offer such as Ionity Passport makes it possible to go from the price of 0.69 euro to 0.35 euro per kWh, but this will require charging at least 635 kWh per year for it to be worth the cost (i.e. two round trips of approximately 1000 kilometres), otherwise the price of the subscription (215.88 euros per year) cannot be compensated.
With its small 58 kWh battery, the Kia EV6 is to be compared with the Tesla Model 3 Propulsion in our exercise of long journeys; the American still manages to do better than the Korean in both summer and winter.
Indeed, where needed only 31 minutes for the Tesla Model 3 Propulsion and between 36 and 49 euros to travel the 530 kilometers between Orléans and Arcachon, it takes between 38 and 43 minutes for the Kia EV6 58 kWh, with a cost of between 52 and 60 euros.
For the winter trip, the conclusion is similar: 102 euros and 1h42 charge for the Model 3 Propulsion, against 120 euros and 1h54 charge for the EV6 58 kWh. Despite its much better charging curve, the Kia EV6 58 kWh does not catch up with its higher consumption and even ranks behind one of its biggest competitors on long journeys.
It would be possible to optimize charging times, but probably not significantly enough, by accepting to arrive with a few percent of battery at each fast charging station. However, this implies taking more risks, which will sometimes be difficult to accept, especially in winter.
The two new electric cars from Korean manufacturers are head to head today: the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6. We’ll go over the similarities and differences between the two models for you…
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