Is battery conditioning just out to frustrate me?

I’ve had this car for about three months now, mostly driving in winter weather (around 0–10°C / 30–50°F). Charging faster than 60 kW has been almost impossible. Every time I try to activate battery conditioning by selecting a station, the dropdown menu is full of Level 2 stations, and I can’t even find the one I need. On top of that, most Electrify America stations don’t seem to trigger conditioning at all, even when I select them.

When I do manage to get it working, I often arrive at the station only to wait 15–20 minutes for a spot, as my city has way more EVs than chargers. By the time I get to charge, the battery has already cooled, making the whole process pointless and draining the battery even more.

Two questions for everyone here:

  1. Is there a way to filter out Level 2 stations in the built-in navigation or set specific stations to trigger battery conditioning, like my nearest EA station?

  2. Can I manually activate battery conditioning somehow? I try to arrive at around 25% state of charge, but below 20% it won’t even turn on.

I’m seriously considering trading this car for something that charges faster and more reliably. Is this just an EV thing I have to live with? Or should I wait for spring temperatures to improve charging speeds? For context, I’ve never hit 100 kW; it’s always around 50–60 kW, which isn’t much better than the 2016 CHAdeMO Soul I replaced with this EV6.

Make sure you’re using the preconditioning feature properly. You need to let your navigation system add the charger as a point of interest (POI). If you just navigate by entering the address, preconditioning won’t start.

Here’s a video that explains it better: https://youtu.be/uuYWzo4R-dE?si=fuCnZ-UrRDTAwhMh

@Ash
Thanks! That’s such an annoying limitation. Why not just have a button for it?

@Ash
One workaround is to navigate to an address, then add the charger as a POI near your destination. The correct option should show up at the top of the list.

Tap the icon that looks like a funnel to filter the stations by type, speed, or network. Be sure to select EV charging station POIs specifically. Preconditioning takes time—it’s a lot of metal and electrolyte to heat—so start navigating towards your charging stop well before you need to charge. Don’t wait until the battery’s too cold.

If the battery drops below 70°F minimum temperature during the trip, it’ll start heating again. But the battery has a lot of thermal mass, so it shouldn’t cool down too quickly. Once preconditioned, subsequent fast-charging stops on a trip will take less time because of residual heat.

After 2.5 years with this car, I’ve found preconditioning works well. In winter, I aim to arrive at chargers with about 18–20% state of charge. In summer, I go lower, like 8%.

@renatahilda
Wait, are you saying you precondition in the summer? I’ve never heard of anyone doing that.

SorentoSquad said:
@renatahilda
Wait, are you saying you precondition in the summer? I’ve never heard of anyone doing that.

I don’t turn it off. The system activates automatically if the battery drops below 70°F. In summer, it usually doesn’t need to heat at all, especially after the first or second charging stop on a trip. That’s why I aim for a much lower state of charge in summer and drive longer stretches between chargers.

SorentoSquad said:
@renatahilda
Wait, are you saying you precondition in the summer? I’ve never heard of anyone doing that.

Preconditioning in summer cools the battery for better charging speeds. My old Model 3 did this before reaching superchargers. With the Kia, I’ve given up and just deal with slower speeds.

@Cindie
Actually, that’s not how it works for this car. The battery is always cooled after charging to a safe temperature for maximum speeds and longevity (around 90°F max). It doesn’t cool further during preconditioning…