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Smartkey remote start on 2022 EV while plugged in

4K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Electro Dad 
#1 ·
I have just determined that our 2022 Kino Niro EV won't remote start when the Smartkey remote starter is used while the car is plugged in. This is a problem as it really limits the utility of remote starting the car. The car starts fine when not plugged in.

Has anyone else found this issue?
Is there a place that I can report this to Kia for a possible software change?
Does the PHEV have the same problem?
 
#2 ·
If you stop and think about this scenario, you will understand why.
while the car is plugged into the charging cable, the battery is in charge mode, and should be isolated from the rest of the electrical systems of the vehicle.
I doubt they would be willing to change that. When you first plug in the charging cable, after a second or two, you can clearly hear a large relay throw, I would assume that is putting the battery and charger circuits into charge mode. when you unplug the cable, it clicks again.
 
#3 ·
@Electro Dad , If you try to remotely start the vehicule (for pre-heat or to cool it down) with the "hold" button on the keyfob, and the car is plugged in, it wont start. Why ? for safety and like @pcguy says, when plugged in, the system is shut down and lets the battery system gets it's charge. BUT, the UVO system on EV's lets the climate system works and so with UVO, you can pre-heat the car or cool it down while charging.

For heat, it recovers the battery charging heat to the cabin.

The only way too remotely start the car when plugged in, is with the UVO app.


For the PHEV model, it will not alloy you to remotely start the car when plugged in, even with the UVO app..

Hope this helps! :)


Sleeve Gadget Communication Device Bag Portable communications device
 
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#4 · (Edited)
What I should have said is "having the car's climate controls come on" and maybe my use of the term`start`is misleading. However, I can see no other purpose of remote starting an EV than to run the climate system. Is there another reason? Am I missing something? Maybe so the kids could listen to the radio but that doesn't require a full start either.

With that understanding, there are 3 situations the car's climate system can be started while the vehicle is plugged in so there is no reason to prevent this from happening when the car is remote started from the smartkey. I would expect the same behaviour as when the car is started from the normal start button while the car is plugged in. My use of the term "start" below, means "climate control start":
  • When the car is started via the start button. The car will start in ACC mode and climate control will activate. The car can then be unplugged and then the start button pushed again while depressing the brake to get a full start.
  • When the car is started via the UVO app. I have not used this so cannot comment.
  • When the car is started via a preprogrammed timed vehicle start (using the EV screen in the infotainment system). I have used this but never watched to see exactly what happens.

Coming back to a full start, if there are common components to the charging and the drive system that require exclusive use, I can see the need per @pcguy. If this is the situation then case closed. I'd be interested to hear if this is the "safety" item @lafe005 is referring to or if there are other things you were thinking about. Many ICE cars will fully remote start and the Niro could be locked into Park while it is plugged in to avoid cord damage.
 
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