500 mi. Kia EV6 Road Trip Doesn’t Go As Expected! See Gold Country!

Join us as we head out on our first trip in our brand new, all-electric, Kia EV6. We’ll take you on a journey through Gold Country, a rarely seen part of California. Along the way, we’ll deal with range anxiety, charge the car a few times, share lessons learned, and have a great time!

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[Binkles]

I have the exact same car. Taking first road trip next week and found your video to be extremely informative. Had range anxiety issues and was thinking of taking my wife’s ICE Murano. Not sure if I’m more excited about the vacation or the journey there and back. Keep posting videos of your travels as they are very entertaining and informative.

[chipp]

I think this was such a GREAT review and travel-log!!! I appreciate it so much! …… As a side note: in Oct 2022 I bought my first EV6 (2022 Wind) as a consequence of the video’s, then just two days ago (Jan 4, 2023) I bought our second EV6 (2023 GT-Line). Trading in both times (each time) a recent vintage Toyota 4-wheel drive Hybrid. At first thinking seriously about whether going to whole way (EV) in was a high risk or not. BUT I LOVE THIS CAR!!! (And this video convinces me!!!) And I believe that They will make them even better😊.

[fraserreddick]

For a road trip you really need to use the Highway rating rather than the combined to get an idea of actual range. The combined rating involves a lot of slow speed town driving which is much more efficient. Also the guess-o-meter is based on your recent driving so if you have been driving in town then go on a long highway trip it will be way off to begin with. Best just to look at the battery % rather than displayed range and calculate from that. Obviously the elevation changes will have some impact as well.

[MrVeeBlog]

This was overcool. Thanks for doing this and keeping logs. I watched your video to actually get the car and somehow, watching this video it's like my first test drive in it. Thanks again.

[DonJulio]

I have the GT LINE EV6 RWD. It has a supposed range of 310 miles. Which it really does 280 miles.

[DouginaBoxster]

Really enjoy the format. We're hoping to make a similar road trip video in our Mach-E this summer (albeit from Oregon to NorCal). Coincidently, my Aunt lives in Sonora, so we may have some similar video to share. Keep up the great videos!

[neilpepper]

I’m loving your travelogue. Seeing all these beautiful towns along your route ( rowt ) or ( root ) as we say in the uk. It’s interesting that you are getting less than the supposedly given mileage for the cars battery. If I go 70 mph it goes down rapidly but if I go 60mph it goes down as expected

[expomm]

Thanks for sharing g real life long trips journeys. I ll probably stick to ICE for a while, I do a lot, of long trips and I m not a very good planner. Still love the EV6 for me, currently the best EV in the market.

[PhotoJohn]

Yeah I noticed driving in rain and bad weather really kills the range.

[Liamshavingfun]

I have the EV 6 GT line RWD and I am planning my first long range drive so I'm looking how your range was versus how mine could be. However my route would be flatter going on the east coast from Florida to New York city.

[eurosteve]

Enjoying your videos! As you commented on, there are many things that were likely dragging down your range from the EPA rating. These include outside temperature, driving style, terrain, climate control settings, speed, and in your case - cargo. I can't tell what the outside temperature was but I'm guessing maybe around 60 degrees F? You had 3 people plus luggage plus the dog, so that may have had a small effect. And you were up and downhill but that should all have cancelled out as you went up and then down again. You were driving in ECO mode and you weren't going fast so that should have helped. It's interesting to see the "real world" mileage you got. On one of the charging sessions you commented on how long it took but I see you charged to 100%. By now you probably realize that charging between 80 and 100% gets slower and slower and the charge tapers and slows down as it gets closer to 100%. The general wisdom it to charge to 80% (maybe more often if possible) to avoid the end of the charging curve. Anyway, thanks for posting your trip. You seemed to be enjoying the process and your video was enjoying to watch! Keep up the good work!

[lile]

the drop is going uphill a lot just like a gas car but you get good braking on long down hill unlike gas car worrying if you’re going to ever heat the brakes

[carlbushnell]

Loved the video. You inspired us to plan a trip thru the Gold Country with our MachE, though we are leaving from LA.
Your car looks great.

We also experience getting fewer actual miles than estimated on our trips to Vegas due to the mountains.

[RodWithAnH]

I wonder if the range runs truer on 19" tires vs the 20" the GT-Line is equipped with. I know the lower models run on the slightly smaller tires.

[MrZola]

Thanks, I enjoyed the video a lot. I live in Orange County and want to go visit these gold rush sites this summer. The feedback is great too. I may buy the long range Wind trim, and I was leaning toward red or black, but I love that blue. Keep the videos coming, looked like a great family trip.

[johncarson]

Road trips are great, show us your planning that happens before where you decide on your charging stops.

[PathyLakshmipathy]

Hello Mahesh, I have been enjoying your videos for the past month and enjoying them thoroughly. I just became the proud owner of an Kia EV6 GT-Line RWD and am planning a road trip from the Bay Area to San Diego. What would you say is the best way to plan the road trip? Are there any EV Road Trip planning websites you could recommend (especially for travel in California)?
Thanks again for the great service you are providing!

[cocofifty]

New sub... this guy will make a great children’s TV presenter👍🏽😁

[zogadwoe]

An idea 💡 to manage range anxiety, I thought of purchasing a camping generator to keep in the trunk of my future EV. So just like the one you get to jump start a dead battery. I am curious if that will be possible ?

[nanettemayerchak]

I loved the format! What is the cost of full charge from a charging station? Does that cost remain the same at all charging stations?