Kia EV6 - NZ Pricing and spec sheet released

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#2978882 8-Oct-2022 07:30

anyone knows if the EV6 is good in poor traction type scenarios? in the south island we have thunderstorms, hail, snow, and muddy grassy carparks.

all my cars have been AWD but i don't want to be held ransom by oil rigs anymore but i don't want to pay 100k for a kia

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#2978886 8-Oct-2022 08:27

Batman:

anyone knows if the EV6 is good in poor traction type scenarios? in the south island we have thunderstorms, hail, snow, and muddy grassy carparks.

all my cars have been AWD but i don't want to be held ransom by oil rigs anymore but i don't want to pay 100k for a kia

You might want to wait for the Subaru Solterra. They have said there will be an AWD version for <$80k. I don't think there are any other AWD EVs under the threshold

edge

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#2978890 8-Oct-2022 08:48

Shindig:

Sticking with the order! It takes a good amount of time for proper research, that has all been done and the EV6 came out tops!

I should look forward to the day it arrives!

We had some doubts at times after ordering in April but our shiny new Deep Forest Green Earth model finally arrived 3 days ago. Still very busy finishing off new house build so not really had a chance to do much with it (only about 50km so far!). But still feeling happy with the decision to go with the Earth - like you, lots of research and "tossing up" but the feature list hit the sweet spot for me, and I have no regrets on that score. The car is a beast and still looks great in real life (IMHO - YMMV).

The delivery process was a bit of an exercise in frustration however. Kia NZ simply billed the local dealer and said the car was "in transit", assuming it had been passed to the car transporter company to deliver. This status remained for almost 4 weeks (!!) before the car actually arrived at the local dealer - they told me that Kia NZ could/would not give them any further info other than "in transit" - hard to believe that they are that useless in this day and age. Anyway, more than happy to have it in the garage at last - now, to find the time to get to know it a bit better :-)

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#2978893 8-Oct-2022 08:58

shk292:

Batman:

anyone knows if the EV6 is good in poor traction type scenarios? in the south island we have thunderstorms, hail, snow, and muddy grassy carparks.

all my cars have been AWD but i don't want to be held ransom by oil rigs anymore but i don't want to pay 100k for a kia

You might want to wait for the Subaru Solterra. They have said there will be an AWD version for <$80k. I don't think there are any other AWD EVs under the threshold

There is both fwd and awd.

Maybe the awd will also be 100k.

Not sure I want to spend 100k on a Subaru either!

shk292

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#2978929 8-Oct-2022 12:15

Batman:

There is both fwd and awd.

Maybe the awd will also be 100k.

Not sure I want to spend 100k on a Subaru either!

I'm sure I have read that only the AWD version will be sold in NZ, and it will start under $80k:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/129326433/subaru-lands-first-solterra-ev-in-new-zealand

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#2978980 8-Oct-2022 12:41

shk292:

Batman:

There is both fwd and awd.

Maybe the awd will also be 100k.

Not sure I want to spend 100k on a Subaru either!

I'm sure I have read that only the AWD version will be sold in NZ, and it will start under $80k:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/129326433/subaru-lands-first-solterra-ev-in-new-zealand

That would be amazing! Thanks

Shindig

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#2979899 10-Oct-2022 08:37

edge:

Shindig:

Sticking with the order! It takes a good amount of time for proper research, that has all been done and the EV6 came out tops!

I should look forward to the day it arrives!

We had some doubts at times after ordering in April but our shiny new Deep Forest Green Earth model finally arrived 3 days ago. Still very busy finishing off new house build so not really had a chance to do much with it (only about 50km so far!). But still feeling happy with the decision to go with the Earth - like you, lots of research and "tossing up" but the feature list hit the sweet spot for me, and I have no regrets on that score. The car is a beast and still looks great in real life (IMHO - YMMV).

The delivery process was a bit of an exercise in frustration however. Kia NZ simply billed the local dealer and said the car was "in transit", assuming it had been passed to the car transporter company to deliver. This status remained for almost 4 weeks (!!) before the car actually arrived at the local dealer - they told me that Kia NZ could/would not give them any further info other than "in transit" - hard to believe that they are that useless in this day and age. Anyway, more than happy to have it in the garage at last - now, to find the time to get to know it a bit better :-)

Just chatting to Mrs Shindig about a planning a NZ wide road trip in Dec, once the Little Shindigs finish school. There is an update blog story in there somewhere.

Get out and about in the car, take some photos for the thread and would love to see a real-world owners update later down the track; we can compare notes.

I can't wait to feel that acceleration again...

The little things make the biggest difference.

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#2983596 17-Oct-2022 06:48

Road trip plans around the North island are gathering momentum. We were looking at $10-15k to go overseas for the xmas break, decided to save a lot of that money and spend it in NZ with a tiki tour in the EV6.

Getting excited now! I installed the chargeNet app on my phone at the weekend and looking at chargers around the country etc.

Checking out the updater process for navigation? Does the car get OTA updates via 4G?

The little things make the biggest difference.

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#2983598 17-Oct-2022 07:03

how is the initial degradation?

i read on tesla forums the LFP gets 5% deg after 5000kms then supposedly settles down once you don't look at it

Scott3

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#2983635 17-Oct-2022 10:38

Batman:

anyone knows if the EV6 is good in poor traction type scenarios? in the south island we have thunderstorms, hail, snow, and muddy grassy carparks.

all my cars have been AWD but i don't want to be held ransom by oil rigs anymore but i don't want to pay 100k for a kia

As a general rule, RWD EV's do better than RWD petrol cars in poor traction conditions. This is due to typically more even weight distribution, and more responsive/precise traction control systems enabled by the quicker response of the electric motor.

Also, all cars have brakes on all wheels, so while AWD helps with getting moving, it doesn't help with stopping or turning (you don't really want to be doing AWD power-slides on the street). As such, the "safety" benefits of AWD are way overhyped. In the north island at least, 4wd / AWD vehicles seem to crash disproportionately into ditches on roads heading to skifeilds.

Of course, there is no argument, that AWD makes you less likely to get stuck, and allows more aggressive acceleration in slippery conditions. And of course, the reason many people who partake in snow sports, want AWD cars is to get past "chains or 4wd" restrictions without needing to fit chains in the cold and dirt.

Note that the vast majority of the NZ fleet is 2wd. Also note that most of the common 4x4 utes like Hilux use a part-time system (no center diff), that should not be engaged on high traction surfaces (which includes wet sealed roads), so they are running in RWD mode pretty much all the time. As such you shouldn't have any concerns about driving along major highways.

Thunderstorms (heavy rain) & hail should not pose an issue for any 2wd car.

With regards to snow, on major highways (and ski fields), restrictions/closures will likely be put in place if it is going to impact the 2wd vehicles that make up most of the fleet.

On muddy grass carparks, The KIA EV6 is a heavy 2wd car with road tires, so it is not going to be great. Still would expect it to do better than empty 2wd utes with road tires.

Did some google searching. RWD ev6 doing a hill climb at 13:30, and AWD at 20:30. Not in English, but the driver is impressed with the RWD, and AWD flies up. Snow mode for both cars. (note they have winter tires on from the test, which is not something we see much in NZ).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGSzsQUdQ8o

Also found a discussion on chains / cables / socks for the EV6.

https://www.kiaevforums.com/threads/snow-chains-snows-socks-fit-only-to-the-rear-wheels-even-with-awd-really-not-allowed-to-fit-on-all-4-wheels.3679/

(ignore the concerns the top poster has only having chains on the rear going downhill. This is exactly where you want the best traction going downhill in slippery conditions. Much better traction increases the risk of oversteer and the rear of the car swapping places with the frount).

You would need to decide on an approach to traction aids, as (if you do mountain passes or ski-field access roads in wither) you will need to fit them more frequently than you do in your current AWD car.

On the Subaru Solaria AWD coming base coming in under the $80k cap, the distributor has said they hope it will to the media. If they can do so it will be groundbreaking as the first rebate eligible AWD EV. But I think it is quite ambitious, and somewhat unlikely (especially if inflation keeps running at 7%+, and the cap doesn't get an inflation-related bump. (And the government is likely to be reluctant to bump the cap up, as many brands appear to be cutting into margins to get prices below the rebate cap, so an increase in the cap would likely result in an immediate price hike for cars like the Kia EV6 LR RWD.

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#2983639 17-Oct-2022 10:54

Batman:

how is the initial degradation?

i read on tesla forums the LFP gets 5% deg after 5000kms then supposedly settles down once you don't look at it

Based on other Hyundai / Kia cars (like the kona), the cars report 100% for quite some time. Not exactly clear why, but my assumption is that either the early degradation eats into any capacity the battery had above it's rating, and then perhaps some of the initially unusable capacity of the battery before the car reports degradation.

Makes things a bit harder to track. (Nissan was super brave putting a battery health readout (number of bars) right on the dashboard of the leaf, for all to see).

But in general (other than the kia soul), Hyundai / Kia batteries hold up well, (Lfp chemistry from other cars brands should degrade less, but they typically have less range to start with than the big battery Hyundai's & Kias)

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#2983640 17-Oct-2022 10:55

Scott3:

Also found a discussion on chains / cables / socks for the EV6.

https://www.kiaevforums.com/threads/snow-chains-snows-socks-fit-only-to-the-rear-wheels-even-with-awd-really-not-allowed-to-fit-on-all-4-wheels.3679/

i've had socks before. they are like the socks you put on your feet. they will rip and be destroyed by a 1 tonne car let alone a 3 tonne car. no way they will last more than a few miles over here.

on pure fluffy snow at 5km/h is where they excel.

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#2983643 17-Oct-2022 10:59

Scott3:

...

With regards to snow, on major highways (and ski fields), restrictions/closures will likely be put in place if it is going to impact the 2wd vehicles that make up most of the fleet.

...

On the Subaru Solaria AWD coming base coming in under the $80k cap, the distributor has said they hope it will to the media. If they can do so it will be groundbreaking as the first rebate eligible AWD EV. But I think it is quite ambitious, and somewhat unlikely (especially if inflation keeps running at 7%+, and the cap doesn't get an inflation-related bump. (And the government is likely to be reluctant to bump the cap up, as many brands appear to be cutting into margins to get prices below the rebate cap, so an increase in the cap would likely result in an immediate price hike for cars like the Kia EV6 LR RWD.

it snows one or two days nowadays.

first the RWD ICE gets stuck. i know coz i used to pass them all the time, it used to snow a lot before global warming. then the FWD get stuck, then the AWD. the Subarus and 4WDs are fine in fresh snow.

re Solterra, yeah i'm not keeping my hopes up.

just get used to the new normal i guess.