After owning it for just a few seconds, I think most of us already know how to read the charge gauge. We don’t really need the car to remind us what car it is… or what the charge gauge legend means.
I’d love to see a percentage next to the ‘gauge’. It’s frustrating having to go into the infotainment system and check the battery percentage just to decide whether I should make another trip or charge first.
@Palmer
And wait 10 seconds for it to load
It’s a nice throwback to physical gauge clusters that are slowly disappearing. When the NiroEV was first released five years ago, low and high estimates didn’t exist. The focus was more on teaching people how to be gentle with the accelerator on an EV, which is why there’s the Eco, Normal, and Aggressive percentage metric.
I personally like the pseudo-gauge cluster. It feels familiar for anyone moving from a gas car. When I first sat in it, I thought, ‘Wow, this is a really easy jump from a gas car to a full EV.’ It meets Kia’s goal of allowing people to compare the gas, hybrid, and electric versions of the same vehicle.
Do you usually charge to 100%?
Luca said:
Do you usually charge to 100%?
Once a month like the manual says to, although this month it’ll be twice.
Luca said:
Do you usually charge to 100%?
I do it all the time on level 1 (though it rarely reaches 100% before I use the car again). No issues with degradation so far on my 2020 model.
@Ashton
Do you need 100% every day? Because if you don’t, science says your battery will degrade faster. The owner’s manual mentions this too.
My battery still gives 100% range. Over 238 miles in the cold of winter, and about 300 miles in ideal conditions. Level one is gentle, and my car usually isn’t at 100% because level 1 takes its time.
Ashton said:
My battery still gives 100% range. Over 238 miles in the cold of winter, and about 300 miles in ideal conditions. Level one is gentle, and my car usually isn’t at 100% because level 1 takes its time.
Well, if I turn off winter mode and the climate control, I can get close to 240 miles of range. I average 2.8-3.2 miles/kWh in winter, and 75% of my driving is highway miles.
@Vesper
How cold does it have to get for the battery heating to kick in? I’ve switched on winter mode but haven’t noticed any change or any battery use on the EV screen. I’m in the UK, where 0°C (32°F) is rare.
Maybe I’m missing something, but the center screen only shows information when charging.
Val said:
Maybe I’m missing something, but the center screen only shows information when charging.
I’m mostly talking about the left screen only showing static images and a fake segmented LCD.
@Vesper
In that case, I’d rather it be divided into quarters instead of thirds. For me, it’s just a guide.
Val said:
@Vesper
In that case, I’d rather it be divided into quarters instead of thirds. For me, it’s just a guide.
Yeah, it’s a near useless screen that could be showing much more useful information.
@Vesper
What more information do you need?
It shows the estimated range and the charge left in the battery. What else would be useful?
It shows the estimated range and the charge left in the battery. What else would be useful?
I suggested it in the title… A percentage or the remaining kWh would be a lot more useful than this vague dot system that just shows 5% increments.
@Vesper
Min/Max isn’t relevant for most people. Not many people are taking trips that require a full ‘tank’ of charge. And since the GoM (Guess-o-meter) calculation is based on past trips, it can be misleading if you’ve been driving slowly around town and then suddenly hit the highway.
As for percentages, I don’t need to know it’s 47% or about half full, I can tell. This isn’t a car with a super short range where the last 1% really matters.
But if you really want that info, it’s available with a press of a button and a couple of taps on the screen.
@Zen
Since this number is misleading, I’d rather just have a rough gauge of what it could be. If you want to see how a min/max gauge looks, check out r/boltev.
Why wouldn’t I need to know the percentage of charge my electric vehicle has?
I get that you defend the lazy design, but if there’s going to be 70% blank space on the display, why not just copy the segmented LCD from the right side of the cluster?
I think my 2024 EV Niro makes a noise when driving hands-free and talking on the phone. Has anyone else noticed this?