KIA EV6 real world range test. 

Done over 309 in my rwd over a mixture of motorway, single track road and everything in between.

I have done over 300 ml in AWD. Tip is get the car heated remotely with home charger still on. Then once driving and comfortable turn off the heat button and the climate turns off on the display. Then reduce the fan speed to 1. This I have done regularly and in very cold minus temps and works brilliantly. This keeps cabin very comfortable. By doing this and on mixed roads without too many steep hills will get you 300ml in reasonable temps. The climate control staying on all the while eats the energy. But doing as I suggested keeps the cabin just as warm and really improves the range.

well done, great review, thanks. Very close to ordering this car.

That's a very useful and interesting trial. I have the same car from new and now with about 11k on the clock. I would say that your 275ish range is about right in those temperatures and on that mix of roads. Theone thing you didn't mention was the prevailing wind. I find that the wind affects the range quite a bit. 3 weekends ago we went down to Lyon to visit family (450 miles from Eurotunnel) and the range was affected considerably by the wind. Of course it was also affected by driving at constant 75-80 mph which dropped the range by quite a bit but that was expected. The motorway journey in France is easy since Ionity have chargers all the way down.....expensive but easy to find. Thanks for posting...John

Using the active cruise control is also more efficient than drivng manually.

Thanks, I have the AWD version with the big 20 inch wheels, I have had it since Nov 2021 and done 14000 miles. I manage 240 in Winter and 270 in Summer, no heat pump. My overall consumption is currently 3.3m/Kwh, I have never reset it from new, and that is 2 Winters and only one Summer so by the time it is 2 years old,I should average overall 3.4-3.5 Kwh/mile.

Looking to upgrade my current Kia soul first edition. So this was a great watch

I have a GTLS. rwd and managed 275 with it reading 30 miles on the display still. Normal driving Manchester to Scarborough return.

Tip, sit behind a lorry on the motorway, yes, it’s about 55mph, but i managed 4.2m/kwh doing 170 miles in my Niro with 70 miles remaining before I decided to charge. I’m sure I can get over 250 if i wanted to and in the heat of summer, who knows, i could push 300, but it would be a very boring drive! As we know, the climate plays a big part, from temperature, rain and the wind direction, all play a big part on all types of cars, be them EV or ICE.

On week 2 with my Kia EV6 GT-line AWD and planning a 250 mile trip for Saturday with a few stops along the way. I think I could do it without charging, but since I’m not familiar with the car yet I expect I’ll play it safe and plug in somewhere along the route. Thanks for sharing your experience.

How are the speakers/ sound system in the GT line as haven’t been able to hear it in anything but the GT line S?

It looks like you have the 20" wheels on the GT-Line S model; here in Canada, Kia advertises a 48km (30mi) loss of range between the GT-Line Pkg2 (GT-Line S) and the GT-Line Pkg1 (GT-Line) mainly due to the larger wheels, wider tires, and slightly higher weight. This is with the EPA rating, which is a bit more pessimistic than the WLTP rating you have there.

Great road trip. I don't think you are right about hills: there should close to the same energy regenerated going down a hill as going up it, with a reasonably efficient electric motor. It is about an extra 1kWh to climb a vertical 200m, no matter the steepness or speed, and the reverse on the way down. This is just added and subtracted from what you are using to motor along. I agree with you and the others that it is speed, prevailing wind and coldness that harm the range.

just got my awd gt- line recently and one thing that irks me is that you have to re-select eco mode after turning the car off and on again. when you returned from your pee break,i wondered if you kept in eco mode?

Hmmm, 300 miles on my '83 Mercedes 300TD 5 cyl diesel. Heater about 80-83F in shirt sleeves. I won't have to stop if I try, out and back...

Shocking road noise in this car?

Didn't get the weather report!

maybe the 300-mile range is achievable in a cumulative way of numerous local journeys. If, as you showed initially, an over 4-5kw consumption rate is achieved. But 250plus miles is good, and if you top up when you stop. Range anks is limited, as few of us would look to do 250 miles or more in one go. My next car will be an electric in 3 years time.

Can you now do the "Every naysayer standard commute"? You know... Lands End to John O'Groats, both ways (uphill), towing a caravan, with the cabin at 30°C, with the windows open, the radio on full, with a roof rack, 5 people in the car, with under inflated tyres, at 80mph, in under 20 hours, without stopping. Only then will an EV be useful.

Its hard to hear you

The 300 miles is calculated going at an average of 40 mph

Not sure what location you are driving, in US Highway long drives, we will be driving around 75MPH or above. Some states its more like 85MPH. This is where Kia and Hyundai loses because of Cd is bad compared to Tesla.

Halfway mark and your average speed is 78 ish kph. Hardly any good for a road trip that you’d be wanting an average of 100 kph. So, not a real test. For any ICE, I’d be wanting to get to my destination as quickly as legal whilst keeping the fuel economy low and often beating the car makers official lowest average for litres per hundred kilometres.

I just find EV's to be a very regressive technology. EV sellers and market analysts have not been able to state how much C02 an EV car would save on say 100,000 miles compared to ICE car. EV cars contain numerous rare earth materials, mined in country's will lax environmental laws, where again the environmental impact is overlooked. There's been no adequate explanation for what to do with the batteries, very much like the current situation with solar panels, where they're literally going to landfill. Furthermore, due to the increased weight of EV's there's evidence emerging that particulates from tyre rubber and brake dust are dramatically increased by EV's. I've recently driven through Europe in a diesel mondeo that got me 690 miles on a full tank and doing this journey with an EV would have been an absolute nightmare .

All l see is distance anxiety with one person, shouldn't you redo it with the weight of 3 other people in the car?? and also do it towing a trailer, all that money on any EV to really go know where?? It's not not much of a test on EV distance don't be conned people..and you didn't show how long a recharge took either?? No not much detail, just a drive for one 😮😮😮

Manufacturers of ICE cars have been doing it for years..now EV manufacturers are doing the same crazy thing......they do all they can to improve economy (now range), then stick massive wheels and tyres on, that cancel out all the other efficiencies they've spent millions developing!!!! 20 inch wheels.....22 inch on a lot of Jaguar i-paces....why????