Understanding EV Maintenance
Whether you’ve picked up one of Kia’s excellent, currently available electric vehicles, or if you’ve snagged yourself a reservation for the upcoming EV9, there are things you need to learn if it’s your first fully electric vehicle. Even though the car may have fewer mechanical moving parts than a traditional gasoline-powered vehicle, EVs still require regular maintenance.
Batteries
One major difference that EV owners will notice is that all-electric vehicle batteries require nearly no maintenance throughout their life, and are estimated to last for 12 to 15 years. Despite this clear benefit, owners should still take certain precautions to help extend their battery’s life.
The first factor to consider when caring for your EV’s battery is extreme temperatures. This includes both hot and cold temperatures. Your car should have baked-in systems that regulate the battery’s temperature itself. However, storing your car in a garage in either extreme heat or cold outdoor temperatures is always helpful.
Fast chargers will be useful to every EV owner throughout their time owning the car. Now that Kia will be adopting the North American Charging Standard, the number of fast charging stations available to Kia owners will expand vastly. However, fast charge stations are not meant to be used for every charge-up your vehicle receives. From a financial standpoint, fast charging also costs 3-4 times more than charging at home typically would.
On a final note regarding battery maintenance, owners should try to avoid fully charging or depleting the battery. Most manufacturers suggest charging only up to about 85% of capacity, and even tend to build in smart features that do this for you while charging.
Tires
Electric Vehicle tires, though identical in every way to standard vehicle tires, do require a different level of attention. This comes mostly from the fact that EVs are typically heavier than traditional gas cars, due to their batteries. Kia’s upcoming EV9 GT-Line weighs in at 5,839 lbs.
Another factor is that the instant torque of EVs can cause drivers to start and stop much quicker than they might be used to. This can be exciting and often leads drivers to have a bit of a lead foot. So between these factors, your EV’s tires may wear down quicker than you might be used to.
Traditional maintenance tasks like tire rotations and alignments are still a necessary part of ownership here and should be done as often or even more often than normal.
Fluid Checks and Consumables
Electric Vehicle powertrains need to maintain a cool temperature, just like gas cars. This is usually done with a coolant or refrigerant. Owners should check the integrity of the cooling system hoses and the fluid levels every six months.
Brake fluids also need to be flushed and replaced at regular intervals. This can be done as a regular routine service task. When this is done, it may also be a good time to check on or replace the cabin air filters, windshield wiper blades, and washer fluid. As normal, these are all things that need replacement over time in an EV.
Brake Pads
We have some good news here, in that brake pads should require much more infrequent replacement. This is mostly thanks to the regenerative braking feature that EVs take advantage of. This feature allows the motor to slow the vehicle by transferring kinetic energy into the battery. This means your car’s mechanical brakes should be used much less than in a traditional gas car. And less usage means less wear and a longer lifespan.
Things you don’t have to worry about
With all of the notable maintenance tasks that EV owners have to take care of out of the way, it’s worth mentioning that there are tasks that you’ll no longer have to worry about.
For instance, you can say goodbye to oil changes. And expensive parts like spark plugs, transmission systems and belts that wear out are all no longer a factor in EVs. And without an exhaust system, there is no muffler or catalytic converter to worry about replacing eventually.
So with all of those things off your to-do list for your car’s lifespan, something like slightly more frequent tire rotations becomes a miniscule cost as a tradeoff.
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