Some members will remember that I had issues with charging my EV3 which I collected in December. The car is currently in the garage and I have a courtesy car to give them a chance to resolve it. Having tried charging on other chargers away from home (both fast charge on DC and slower charges on 7 kw, 22kw using AC) I have been able to confirm to the garage that when fast charging there is no problem, but anything using the AC port causes issues. E.g. on a 22kw it was only charging at 3.4 kw, on a 42 kw AC only it was charging at 10.3 kw. I have saved all of the screenshots from the App and provided them. I am also now charging the replacement courtesy car on my home charger with no issues. Just wonder if anyone else has had this issue since I last posted? Thanks in advance
ForestBev
I took my car into the dealer this morning, had a chat with the service manager and explained what was happening - charge rate dropping to 1.4KW after an hour or two.
He said that, rather than using one of their 11KW chargers, he'd get them to try it on their normal 7KW unit.
I got a notification about an hour ago to say that the car was charging.
I just checked a couple of minutes ago, and it was showing a charge rate of 1.4KW in the Kia app.
Now showing "not plugged in".
Charge state has risen by 4%, range increased by less than 20 miles, since I dropped it off.
Assuming that the Kia app is giving me real-time data, it seems that the fault is showing up for the dealer
He said that, rather than using one of their 11KW chargers, he'd get them to try it on their normal 7KW unit.
I got a notification about an hour ago to say that the car was charging.
I just checked a couple of minutes ago, and it was showing a charge rate of 1.4KW in the Kia app.
Now showing "not plugged in".
Charge state has risen by 4%, range increased by less than 20 miles, since I dropped it off.
Assuming that the Kia app is giving me real-time data, it seems that the fault is showing up for the dealer
This is exactly the same thing that happened to me, the app does indeed show real time, as per my previous comments, it was indeed the ICCU at fault.
I would wager a guess that the ICCU is at fault with your EV3 also.
I would wager a guess that the ICCU is at fault with your EV3 also.
Having failed to charge at the Dealer's yesterday, I got home with 59% battery.
I plugged the car in, set the charge rate in the Kia app to 90%, with a 90% limit on AC.
Octopus gave me 2 extra, short, slots, then a long slot from midnight to 4am.
Car was at 90% this morning, and looking at the graphs, all 3 slots were at the full 6.8KW - no drop-off at all.
Looking at the "whole house" HA graph, there were nine 1KW spikes during the 3.5 hour midnight onwards charging stint, presumably caused by the fridge and freezers kicking in.
Heatpump was also running overnight (Mitsubishi unit, so it runs on 20 minute cycles because it can't modulate down low enough in warmer weather), as well as 'er indoors getting up and making coffee a couple of times.
A lot of "noise" on the supply, but no ill effects.
I plugged the car in, set the charge rate in the Kia app to 90%, with a 90% limit on AC.
Octopus gave me 2 extra, short, slots, then a long slot from midnight to 4am.
Car was at 90% this morning, and looking at the graphs, all 3 slots were at the full 6.8KW - no drop-off at all.
Looking at the "whole house" HA graph, there were nine 1KW spikes during the 3.5 hour midnight onwards charging stint, presumably caused by the fridge and freezers kicking in.
Heatpump was also running overnight (Mitsubishi unit, so it runs on 20 minute cycles because it can't modulate down low enough in warmer weather), as well as 'er indoors getting up and making coffee a couple of times.
A lot of "noise" on the supply, but no ill effects.
Interesting. I wonder if dropping the charge rate to 90% is giving the ICCU a bit more headroom against noise.
Had my E-Niro for over four years and have never had any problems charging, I am on the simple Octopus Go though, so it's not swapping charge periods in and out.
My car goes in tomorrow, I found a post regarding the EV6 with ICCU issues last year:
"Some insight into the ICCU issue. Talked to my Kia dealer EV tech, who happens to own a 2023 EV6 GT. The main cause of the ICCU failure is due to cheap level 2 chargers not ramping up the current when starting to charge. This can cause the overload and eventual failure of the ICCU.
Evidently, there is a software update to prevent this overload from happening, by instructing the ICCU to determine the needed current and not the charger.
So my 2024 EV6 GTL manufactured in August 2023, now has the software update. And yes, my car is part of the recall. Hopefully, this is the real solution to our ICCU issue."
It looks like the update we recently had may prevent more of these from going wrong, but if they have already, they need a replacement.
"Some insight into the ICCU issue. Talked to my Kia dealer EV tech, who happens to own a 2023 EV6 GT. The main cause of the ICCU failure is due to cheap level 2 chargers not ramping up the current when starting to charge. This can cause the overload and eventual failure of the ICCU.
Evidently, there is a software update to prevent this overload from happening, by instructing the ICCU to determine the needed current and not the charger.
So my 2024 EV6 GTL manufactured in August 2023, now has the software update. And yes, my car is part of the recall. Hopefully, this is the real solution to our ICCU issue."
It looks like the update we recently had may prevent more of these from going wrong, but if they have already, they need a replacement.
Like @Ken Gillam my reply is that I've had my Soul since May 2021 and had no AC charging problems.
Besides the difference that 11kW is using the in-built charger configured for 3-phases (so that's a significant difference), each phase is only carrying 16 amps when on 11kW, whereas 7kW charging is one phase carrying 32A. Both types of charging might have problems for different reasons. If a garage were to stick the car on an 11kW charger it's going to exercise a different process.
I don't believe the charging difficulties of the EV3 are at all typical of EVs in general. Quite a few of us with Kia EVs will have also been on other EV forums. Both here on Kia and elsewhere the main common thread has been 12V batteries. Of course each manufacturer (seen on other EV forums) seems also to have it's main gripes: automated behaviours, navigation, noises etc.
On the whole, in 4 years so far of watching these forums it seems that the Kia brand has been doing quite well. Our Kia Soul has never experienced any 7kW charging difficulty. It is a car which can only charge at 7kW AC, so the charging tech will be simpler. I also can't charge at home, so there's the added factor that I've used quite a few more variations in AC and rapid charging than many home-charging owners. Never had a problem at 7kW.
It's in the nature of so many early owners of EVs that they do have home charging and quite a few are on systems which include PV and/or battery storage and/or smart tariffs... all this sometimes clouds the picture as people have problems which can involve schedules in the car for charging and schedules on the wallbox and schedules from their electricity supplier.
If there was one thing that I've noticed a history of gripes over on pre-EV3 models it was apparent irrational behaviour of people's in-car charging schedules - possible conflict of what the car was set to or what the apps in the hands of two users was set to?
The other thing is that whilst forums are excellent for putting us owners in contact and spotting common problems, there is a tendency for it to look like problems are more common than they actually are. 12V battery being a case in point. People make a point of looking and posting if they have a problem, but not if they don't.
We don't know how many people have never had a 12V problem - I haven't and my car sits on the street for days, possibly weeks on end and may only get charged 1-3 times a month.
Clearly the EV3 has suffered some fairly common problem, maybe a design, but more likely a design tolerance or component tolerance or manufacturing batch problem. There are probably a significant majority experiencing no problems or your dealers would be a lot more clued-up (unless they are lying!)
The great thing about forums like this and speakev is that they bring owners together and we spot common issues. It tends to show-up the dealerships lack of knowledge but, in fairness, a Kia dealership isn't like Tesla with a sole focus on EVs - if a dealership shifts 30 EV3s in month and the problem is something like a 1 in 50 or 100 they won't have the same clarity that seems evident on here. Of course Kia UK and globally has a duty to be straight with dealerships about problems that are getting reported... That's where I think things are falling down. It's all very well to have something like a "knowledge base" of faults, but you also need some way to join dots with problems being reported which don't have known solutions. The problem is that so many organisations prefer the "nobody else is having problems" approach over the honestly of saying "new to us, but head-office is observing a pattern of what look like similar problems and looking into it".
Besides the difference that 11kW is using the in-built charger configured for 3-phases (so that's a significant difference), each phase is only carrying 16 amps when on 11kW, whereas 7kW charging is one phase carrying 32A. Both types of charging might have problems for different reasons. If a garage were to stick the car on an 11kW charger it's going to exercise a different process.
I don't believe the charging difficulties of the EV3 are at all typical of EVs in general. Quite a few of us with Kia EVs will have also been on other EV forums. Both here on Kia and elsewhere the main common thread has been 12V batteries. Of course each manufacturer (seen on other EV forums) seems also to have it's main gripes: automated behaviours, navigation, noises etc.
On the whole, in 4 years so far of watching these forums it seems that the Kia brand has been doing quite well. Our Kia Soul has never experienced any 7kW charging difficulty. It is a car which can only charge at 7kW AC, so the charging tech will be simpler. I also can't charge at home, so there's the added factor that I've used quite a few more variations in AC and rapid charging than many home-charging owners. Never had a problem at 7kW.
It's in the nature of so many early owners of EVs that they do have home charging and quite a few are on systems which include PV and/or battery storage and/or smart tariffs... all this sometimes clouds the picture as people have problems which can involve schedules in the car for charging and schedules on the wallbox and schedules from their electricity supplier.
If there was one thing that I've noticed a history of gripes over on pre-EV3 models it was apparent irrational behaviour of people's in-car charging schedules - possible conflict of what the car was set to or what the apps in the hands of two users was set to?
The other thing is that whilst forums are excellent for putting us owners in contact and spotting common problems, there is a tendency for it to look like problems are more common than they actually are. 12V battery being a case in point. People make a point of looking and posting if they have a problem, but not if they don't.
We don't know how many people have never had a 12V problem - I haven't and my car sits on the street for days, possibly weeks on end and may only get charged 1-3 times a month.
Clearly the EV3 has suffered some fairly common problem, maybe a design, but more likely a design tolerance or component tolerance or manufacturing batch problem. There are probably a significant majority experiencing no problems or your dealers would be a lot more clued-up (unless they are lying!)
The great thing about forums like this and speakev is that they bring owners together and we spot common issues. It tends to show-up the dealerships lack of knowledge but, in fairness, a Kia dealership isn't like Tesla with a sole focus on EVs - if a dealership shifts 30 EV3s in month and the problem is something like a 1 in 50 or 100 they won't have the same clarity that seems evident on here. Of course Kia UK and globally has a duty to be straight with dealerships about problems that are getting reported... That's where I think things are falling down. It's all very well to have something like a "knowledge base" of faults, but you also need some way to join dots with problems being reported which don't have known solutions. The problem is that so many organisations prefer the "nobody else is having problems" approach over the honestly of saying "new to us, but head-office is observing a pattern of what look like similar problems and looking into it".
It definitely looks like the cables are not a factor with the EV3 problem, because charging can sometimes be normal or change after a time, but I wanted to add this for completeness, for anyone who comes to this thread one day, with "slower than expected" AC charging problems... the cable can sometimes be a factor.
Our cars which can only charge at 7kW will likely be supplied with a cable suitable for only one phase of 32A.
Any car which can charge at 22kW should be supplied with a charging cable with the extra conductors required for 3-phase power and each conductor has to be capable of 32A
A car of any model which can charge at 11kW is doing that with 3 phases (extra conductors in the cable), each needing to carry 16A.
A cheapskate 11kW cable would mean that when the car is plugged to a "7kW" (single phase) charge point, a typical home, the cable only allows 16A, not the 32A required for 7kW - hence someone might experience ~3.5kW charging with that cable.
The upshot is this:
I wouldn't expect a delivered car to have an inappropriate cable, but people might be lured on websites to buy spare, or longer, or different coloured cables and the 11kW cable can be a pit-fall.
Our cars which can only charge at 7kW will likely be supplied with a cable suitable for only one phase of 32A.
Any car which can charge at 22kW should be supplied with a charging cable with the extra conductors required for 3-phase power and each conductor has to be capable of 32A
A car of any model which can charge at 11kW is doing that with 3 phases (extra conductors in the cable), each needing to carry 16A.
A cheapskate 11kW cable would mean that when the car is plugged to a "7kW" (single phase) charge point, a typical home, the cable only allows 16A, not the 32A required for 7kW - hence someone might experience ~3.5kW charging with that cable.
The upshot is this:
- A 22kW cable can supply 7, 11 or 22kW charging from a charge-point capable of those powers
- A 7kW cable will always only work at 7kW obviously, regardless of what the AC charge point shows
- A cable sold as 11kW may be fine for 11kW, but, for a single-phase outlet, can only deliver half what a 7kW cable would do
I wouldn't expect a delivered car to have an inappropriate cable, but people might be lured on websites to buy spare, or longer, or different coloured cables and the 11kW cable can be a pit-fall.
Update, as metioned before my car went in on the 30th, I presented my dealership with screenshots of the low charge. After a day they agreed and have recommended a new ICCU. I just have to wait and decided to take my car back and return the courtesy car.
I had my suspicions about local thermal problems with components.
This article, mostly about Hyundai/Genesis E-GMP issues in USA, mentions their sibling Kia EV6.
It seems that software may be altering the cooling behaviour and electronic behaviour to reduce start-up surges which were affecting 12V charging.
Relevant here?
https://insideevs.com/features/752768/hyundai-kia-genesis-iccu-failure/
This article, mostly about Hyundai/Genesis E-GMP issues in USA, mentions their sibling Kia EV6.
It seems that software may be altering the cooling behaviour and electronic behaviour to reduce start-up surges which were affecting 12V charging.
Relevant here?
https://insideevs.com/features/752768/hyundai-kia-genesis-iccu-failure/
Did you get an outcome from Kia - I have same issue - charge drops off to 1.4KW after 5 minutes on my 7KW Hypervolt home charger - and I had exactly the same on 3 other 7KW AC chargers (a Zappi and 2 Tesla Type 2's) - works fine on Super DC chargers. Must be ICCU given AC vs DC difference. I am booked into the local dealer on Tuesday but they said no other EV3 has reported this issue?
@howarddasilva - I thought I would reply to your post, saying that I have had exactly the same issue, and it was indeed the ICCU at fault, my EV3 was in the dealer for 3 weeks while they got to the bottom of it, we had a new EV3 loan car.
In the end I pushed the dealer I purchased it from, to take it back, in the end I settled for a swap of a slightly newer model, basically same milage, 1 year road tax paid, private number plate transfer paid.
My original EV3 had the ICCU replaced the day before the vehicle swap, and I saw on the app that it was charging ok at the dealer without dropping at all.
Apparently Kia was using out EV3 as a test vehicle for this fault, your dealer is not being truthful, as there are plenty of EV3,s with this fault.
Fingers crossed my new vehicle is charging ok.
In the end I pushed the dealer I purchased it from, to take it back, in the end I settled for a swap of a slightly newer model, basically same milage, 1 year road tax paid, private number plate transfer paid.
My original EV3 had the ICCU replaced the day before the vehicle swap, and I saw on the app that it was charging ok at the dealer without dropping at all.
Apparently Kia was using out EV3 as a test vehicle for this fault, your dealer is not being truthful, as there are plenty of EV3,s with this fault.
Fingers crossed my new vehicle is charging ok.
Hi @howarddasilva
I have the same issue, although it takes longer before the charge rate drops. My dealer is still investigating and has discussed the issue with Kia. Your dealer could not have checked if they do not know of other cases.
I have the same issue, although it takes longer before the charge rate drops. My dealer is still investigating and has discussed the issue with Kia. Your dealer could not have checked if they do not know of other cases.
An update on my situation. I rejected the car within 30 days of purchase and then gave the garage time to rectify the fault which they have been unable to do. I therefore finally rejected the vehicle on the 24th March 2025. It took the garage from then until the 12th May to provide the refund. It has been tortuous. Kia UK are accepting the car back from the dealership as they have been unable to find the cause of the issue. I have now purchased a Ford Explorer. I would consider buying an EV3 in the future but only when this issue has been resolved. I can honestly say it has been the worst buying experience of my life!
That's just my poor grammer @ForestBev. Just trying to say it's always tough to try to get a company to actually refund your hard earned cash. Real pity about the car. Heard of a few owners with iccu issues, but yours is the first that's been unresolved.
Hi,
With so many posts on this issue it's difficult to know where to reply, but I thought I would share where I am. I've got an Anderson A2 charger that has served me without fault for over 4 years with a BMW I3.
No fancy charging just a ON/OFF timer schedule on the A2.
We've had the EV3 since late November with no issues but earlier this month when attempting to charge on the A2 at 7.2KW, the A2 reported the car had requested to drop the charge to 1.4Kw, It did this thru several different charging tests that I subsequently undertook, sometime after a couple of hours, sometimes after minutes. It also dropped on a relatives charger when I was visiting. I've not contacted a dealer yet but what I did do was drop the AC charging current to 90% (from 100% , you can set it to 50 90 or 100). The car has now charged 5 times at a rate of approx 6.5Kw with no issues.
One other thing, I'm not sure but I think I had the first problem after I'd granny charged the car for the first time.
Having read thru all (most?) of the woe here I suspect I need to contact the dealer. BTW I did apply the OTA ICCU update some weeks ago.
With so many posts on this issue it's difficult to know where to reply, but I thought I would share where I am. I've got an Anderson A2 charger that has served me without fault for over 4 years with a BMW I3.
No fancy charging just a ON/OFF timer schedule on the A2.
We've had the EV3 since late November with no issues but earlier this month when attempting to charge on the A2 at 7.2KW, the A2 reported the car had requested to drop the charge to 1.4Kw, It did this thru several different charging tests that I subsequently undertook, sometime after a couple of hours, sometimes after minutes. It also dropped on a relatives charger when I was visiting. I've not contacted a dealer yet but what I did do was drop the AC charging current to 90% (from 100% , you can set it to 50 90 or 100). The car has now charged 5 times at a rate of approx 6.5Kw with no issues.
One other thing, I'm not sure but I think I had the first problem after I'd granny charged the car for the first time.
Having read thru all (most?) of the woe here I suspect I need to contact the dealer. BTW I did apply the OTA ICCU update some weeks ago.
Well mine is slowing down from appr. 96-97%. Until 96% it will charge with 10,4kW.
AC charging with 11kW on a very basic charger, just delivering 11kW to the EV.
AC charging with 11kW on a very basic charger, just delivering 11kW to the EV.
I heard from the dealer yesterday. Replacement ICCU now arrived, but 4 weeks until a trained EV tech and courtesy car are available on the same day.
Service receptionist assured me that it will fix the problem. They've had a couple of other EV3s with the same fault.
In the meantime, charging at 90% has worked perfectly so far, even when Octopus decides to do it in 2 or 3 slots.
Service receptionist assured me that it will fix the problem. They've had a couple of other EV3s with the same fault.
In the meantime, charging at 90% has worked perfectly so far, even when Octopus decides to do it in 2 or 3 slots.
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