[cookrd1]

2018 Niro PHEV

My account is linked, I can control charging, honk the horn, lock the doors......
BUT, I cannot start the climate control either at home or away, plugged in or unplugged.

Furthermore, even simple things like lock the doors can take from 20 seconds to a couple minutes.

Also, the Alexa apps - UVO and Kia Niro - neither one work although my account is linked.

I can live without Alexa, but not having the ability to turn on the a/c remotely is a big concern. Especially since my Honda can do this AND respond IMMEDIATELY.

Any tips?
Anybody else with the same Climate Control problem?
How quickly does you Niro respond to requests such as lock or honk the horn?

 

[egmacrae]

I am able to go online to the MyUVO website hit remote tab and set AC and it pre-cools the car just fine , but i am unable to use the UVO eco app on my iphonefor my PHEV to do same. I have to constantly delete and download app in order for it to access my car and it will only work once then won't let me log in again without deleting and downloading the the app again. Customer Service for UVO was no help.

 

[jmurphEV]

2018 Niro PHEV
Any tips?
Anybody else with the same Climate Control problem?
How quickly does you Niro respond to requests such as lock or honk the horn?

In my experience the response is pretty slow. Lock / unlock can take 60 - 90 seconds or so. Same for climate control commands. This is with both the UVO Eco app (important if you have the PHEV Niro, the regular UVO app doesn't seem to work well if at all) and the website.

The slow response doesn't bother me, but YMMV.

 

[yticolev]

There is a possibility that those with fast access are on a home wifi network that the car is also logged into and it is all done locally. And the possibility that those with slow access are sending their request through hundreds of servers to South Korea and back again. Not a tech expert but I always wonder about the background communication, especially when different people have such different experiences. There was a longish thread here or on the Ioniq forum about the difficulty getting one's car to recognize and log into home networks.

 

[egmacrae]

anyone know how to stay logged into the UVO eco app?

 

[spankym]

The remote climate start works for me. All functions seem to take around one minute to execute which seems acceptable and normal to me since it uses 3G/LTE only. The Niro PHEV does not have WiFi. My Hyundai Tucson had Wifi and I was also able to remote start and it took about the same time to execute commands.

One thing I noticed with the remote climate start is that it turns on the defroster even if I am turning on AC and trying to cool the car down.

 

[cookrd1]

I started the thread. Yesterday, I was demonstrating the stupidness of this system - at least 15 tries, it wouldn’t connect - when, surprise, it worked and really quickly. I will be taking this up with Kia and will post the results. BTW, I also demonstrated the same feature on a new RDX, also using an iPhone app, and it worked every time and immediately. Kia needs to do this. Make or break feature for me.

 

[eddie]

Remote start for an 2018 HEV

Anyone hear anything about a remote start for the 2018 HEV touring model?

 

[yticolev]

What would be the advantage of a remote start? Not having to listen to the startup melody?

 

[charlesH]

What would be the advantage of a remote start? Not having to listen to the startup melody?

pre heat/cool the car?

 

[yticolev]

This thread has talked about remote climate control. I'd think remote start would be for something different but can't imagine what.

 

[eddie]

A remote start would start the ICE on the 2018 HEV EX Touring and heat up the car during the winter or cool it in the summer while I stay comfortable in the house or at work. Simple concept but hard to understand by some.

 

[yticolev]

So you are calling remote start as the only way to control the HVAC system? That seems odd to me. It won't start the engine on a cooling call. Seems dangerous to start an ICE in a garage and potentially dangerous even outside if there is an exhaust leak - people die in the wintertime when stuck. On a BEV, "start" is just an abstraction until you put it in gear - no ICE to "start".

Why not just call it remote climate control?

 

[cookrd1]

I think I found the problem. The Niro needs to be locked or else it will not start the climate control and will report a communications problem. So far, in the three times I tried with it locked first, the climate control has started every time.

 

[eddie]

So you are calling remote start as the only way to control the HVAC system? That seems odd to me. It won't start the engine on a cooling call. Seems dangerous to start an ICE in a garage and potentially dangerous even outside if there is an exhaust leak - people die in the wintertime when stuck. On a BEV, "start" is just an abstraction until you put it in gear - no ICE to "start".

Why not just call it remote climate control?

I have a 2018 HEV and I call it a remote start because it starts the vehicle remotely. In an HEV you need the ICE to generate the heat transferred to the car. I had a Prius with remote start for over 10 years and am still around to tell about it. Unfortunately, it seems Kia does not have a remote start available for an HEV.

 

[jmurphEV]

I think I found the problem. The Niro needs to be locked or else it will not start the climate control and will report a communications problem. So far, in the three times I tried with it locked first, the climate control has started every time.

Yep, that one still gets me sometimes. I generally don't lock my car at work so often when I try to start the A/C it takes me a few tries to remember, oh yeah, I need to lock it first.

It would be nice if the app would tell you to lock it or perhaps even lock it automatically when you start the climate control.

 

[Carlos Arturo Velarde]

What would be the advantage of a remote start? Not having to listen to the startup melody?

If you lived in a climate where it can get to 0 Fahrenheit or 110 Fahrenheit in the shade you would not be asking this question.

 

[Beth]

How long will it run? If I'm driving cross country and want to leave my dog in the car at a rest stop to use the bathroom (dogs not allowed in the bathroom), could I use it to keep the car cool for 5 minutes?

 

[jmurphEV]

How long will it run? If I'm driving cross country and want to leave my dog in the car at a rest stop to use the bathroom (dogs not allowed in the bathroom), could I use it to keep the car cool for 5 minutes?

I think it'll run for ~15 minutes or so.

If you want it run longer you can leave it running while locked. You'll need to take the metal key out of the fob and use it to lock the car while leaving the fob inside so the car will keep running.

 

[Beth]

Thanks! I'll do some tests the next warm day and work out the kinks.