Yahoo Autos Our long-term 2022 Kia EV6 doesn't come with a charging cable
When testing electric vehicles, one item I’ve started to take for granted is the inclusion of a charge cable or mobile charger. Nearly every new EV comes with a plug as standard equipment, but not our new long-term 2022 Kia EV6. In fact, it’s not even a pay-for option on the EV6.
Most owners may shrug this omission off, because if you’re planning on buying an EV6, you’re very likely already planning on having a Level 2 charger installed at your home to charge it. I, on the other hand, am currently renting a home. My landlord’s garage isn’t wired up for 240V power, and there’s no way I’d pay the money to prep a space for EV charging if I’m just going to move out eventually. That leaves me with a charging conundrum.
Trickle charging an EV with Level 1 power typically lets me do all the driving I might need to do in a week, but since the EV6 doesn’t come with any charger to plug in, I’m 100% at the mercy of public charging stations to get juice into the EV6’s battery pack. It’s both annoying and more costly to power the EV6 this way. The annoyance is in the time I need to block out on some evenings to charge back up. Even though I live in a heavily-populated suburb in metro Detroit, the closest fast charger to me is an over-15-minute drive. The extra cost is due to the higher price you’ll pay for fast charging versus your typical home electricity costs. A trip to the local Electrify America station with a nearly depleted battery runs me about $35 to get back to 100% charge. Meanwhile, that same amount of electricity would cost about $10-$15 at home.
