Yahoo Autos Kia EV Home Charging Station Is Now Available with a Click over to Amazon
Amazon and Kia are partnering to offer one-stop shopping for home charging stations.
The charging stations are available only for owners of 2019 Kia Soul EV, Niro EV, and Niro and Optima plug-in hybrid models.
Three Level 2, 240V charging units are available. They cut recharge times drastically, from nine to three hours for the plug-in hybrids and from 33 hours to about five hours for the EVs.
Owners of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids know that the best way to extract the longest range from their vehicle is to keep its large battery charged as fully-and as often-as possible. And the best way to ensure that an electrified vehicle's battery is topped up is to have a Level 2, 240V home charging station in the garage that you can plug in to every time you pull in.
Kia and Amazon have just announced a joint program that makes purchasing a home charger and having it installed no more difficult than buying any other product from the huge online retailer. The product is open only to owners of Kia plug-in vehicles: the Soul and Niro EVs and the Niro and Optima plug-in hybrids. You can also sign up for it if you've purchased one of the requisite models but haven't taken delivery yet.
Owners of a qualifying vehicle can go to Amazon's Charge my Kia page. A simple two-step process offers the choice of three home chargers and then prompts you to schedule an appointment with a local licensed and insured electrician to assess what, if any, changes need to be made to the home's electrical system to accommodate the charger. (Many homes will need to have a new 240V line run to the garage wall.) The electrician will provide a price for installation, and both product and service are backed by Amazon's Happiness Guarantee.
Prices for the three charging units range from $549 to $764; installation costs will vary based on the electrician's hourly rate and their review of the home's electrical system. It's worth it. The Level 2 home charging units cut recharge times drastically compared with Level 1 units, which run on standard 120V current: recharge time for the Soul EV, for instance, is reduced from 33 hours on Level 1 charging to as low as 5.1 hours on a Level 2 unit.
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