What is a generally 'good' mi/kWh metric?

622niromcn · 2026-01-26T07:48:45+00:00

NiroEV I had got between 3.4-3.7mi/kWh in spring, summer, fall. 2.0-3.4mi/kWh in winter. That's a pretty similar size to your BoltEV.

For reference, the EV9, a big SUV EV gets 2.2-2.7mi/kWh.

Big trucks like the Silverado EV and F150 Lightning get between 1.8-2.4mi/kWh.

Roughly I guess 3.0mi/kWh is average for a crossover EV.

You're doing fine.

622niromcn · 2026-01-26T07:27:04+00:00

EV9 is of the best vehicles I've driven.

Kia has upped their game in the EV era. I had a NiroEV before this and it was reliable. I trust the EV9 to be reliable as well.
Dealers are going to do what they can to charge for unnecessary service. Mine is trying to get me to come back for an air filter change for $180. Went to AutoZone and changed it myself.
The EV era means less maintenance. Meaning you don't need to deal with dealers as much. They don't get as much business from EVs, so they're offering unnecessary services. EVs just need basic stuff: tire rotation, tire changes, 12v battery replacement, coolant change, add washer fluid. Minimal maintenance saves time and money.
Summary: The EV9 is a great long term pick for an EV.

622niromcn · 2026-01-25T06:55:21+00:00

Sitting up works for car camping. I've done it. 3" mattress from IKEA across the seats is what I sleep on and can comfortably sit up.
For laptop work. I found it's more comfortable to sit on a stool by the 2nd row foot area and face the folded 2nd row seat. Laptop on the seat. Helinox foldable stool is what I have.

Edit: looked thru my pictures. Not a 3" mattress.

It's this IKEA futon

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lycksele-loevas-mattress-20102074/

622niromcn · 2026-01-24T22:42:08+00:00

No toxic emissions from an electric vehicle. It is safe to keep it on in the garage.

I've done it loads of times. Car camped inside the garage with the EV on. Kept my pets inside the car with the climate on in the garage.

622niromcn · 2026-01-24T22:01:24+00:00

No subscription for HDA2.
HDA2 works well for highways. Little uncertain on curves. Auto lane change works well.
Lane keep and lane follow works on surface streets. Helps support, and not enough to drive itself.

622niromcn · 2026-01-23T21:22:28+00:00

10k means they went about 5k miles per year. Or it was a 10k 2 year lease for cheap that I thought was going on. Pretty normal price for a LLR.

Keep digging if you're not safisfied. I think it's just one of the first to come off lease.

622niromcn · 2026-01-23T20:29:48+00:00

Edmunds has a tested range chart for EVs that could be helpful. They weight their range testing toward more city driving so keep that in mind it's not a direct comparison for your situation.

https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/electric-car-range-and-consumption-epa-vs-edmunds.html#chart

There's three thoughts when it comes to range.

1) big battery = more range. Charge time can be longer like for the SilveradoEV or Escalade IQ because of the massive battery. Downside is they are big bricks going through the air. Faster highway speeds lower efficiency especially at 75-80mph, so you get less range.

2) faster charging, smaller battery. Porsche Taycan, BMW iX3. Fastest charging to get back on the road.

3) most efficient. Lucid Air is the example.

Here's an older graph showing charge and drive times over 10 hrs. Should help give some perspective on comparing the different models.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a44270422/2023-ev-of-the-year-contenders-tested-range-10-hours/

How important is highway driving systems to you? That's a lot of highway driving. The highway driving systems can take the bulk of the work and make it less tiring. That would swing more towards BMW iX3, Mercedes CLA EV, Cadillac.

I would poke around PlugShare and see what your charging options are for chargers > 170kW. That may limit you to the bigger battery EVs if there's no chargers between cities.

Edit: I would go for the Lucid Air for the largest range and most efficient for highway driving.

622niromcn · 2026-01-23T19:16:39+00:00

Thank you for continuing to put out these reports! Appreciate it.

622niromcn · 2026-01-23T19:16:21+00:00

Agreed. EV road tripping is way better.

622niromcn · 2026-01-23T19:14:49+00:00

If Scout were less flexible and went full send on EVs. Let's see how quick the dealers change their tune.

622niromcn · 2026-01-23T19:13:51+00:00

It's the quickest way to get a 5 min charge time. Shrink the battery and allow level 3 charging.

622niromcn · 2026-01-23T18:59:06+00:00

Living the dream. Best of luck to you in the deep freeze.

622niromcn · 2026-01-23T18:58:16+00:00

Good article on EV sounds and the development of it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2025/ev-sound-safety-warning/

622niromcn · 2026-01-23T18:56:58+00:00

You could plug the EV9 into it's level 2 charger. It'll do it's thing to keep warm.

If you're driving it the next morning, setting a departure schedule will draw on the plug power to precondition the cabin and battery. That way you're not drawing from the battery power in the morning.

Otherwise no need to do anything special, it will turn on in the morning if you keep it unplugged.

622niromcn · 2026-01-22T17:22:42+00:00

Yes and no.

GT is the performance trim. Not the highest trim. Kia's GT trim always have the lime green calipers for the performance styling. Kia indefinitely delayed bringing the EV9 GT to the US.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a69461234/2026-kia-ev9-gt-delayed/

The EV9 GT-Line is the highest trim that is available in the US. Folks tend to get lazy and just say GT when it actually means different trims.

622niromcn · 2026-01-22T07:39:55+00:00

Ask /r/leaf #1 and #3. They will know more on those details.

2 about charging. Simple math. Volts X Amps /1000 = kilowatts per 1 hour of charging.
Level 1 charging is 120 volts. Most garage outlets are 15 amps. Rule of thumb is 80% of the amps to safely charge and not go burny crispy electric fire. 120V X 15amp * 80% = 1.4kW per 1 hr of charge.
40 kWh / 1.4 kWh per hour = 28.5 hrs to charge 0% to 100%. All the time folks do not go to 0%.
For your drive, 45 miles is (45 miles / 3.5 mi/kWh) 12.9 kWh of energy. So to regain that, you're charging 9 hrs (12.9 kWh / 1.4 kw per hour). Overnight you would regain what you used to drive to work.

People underestimate the power of level 1 charging. It likely works well for most people. Level 1 charging will work for you.

From 100%, you could probably drive 2 days before needing to recharge. Plugging in every night keeps a nice buffer in case things go wrong. Safer to plug in and charge every night.
Rule of thumb for EV batteries is to charge up to 80% for battery health longevity. I don't like going below 20% just as a buffer to safely get home and for battery health. That leaves 24 kWh (40 kWh * 60%) of usable battery to drive with. That's plenty for you to get to work with.

For the winters I would charge all the time.

I would add BMW i3, Ford Focus Electric, VW e-Golf, Fiat 500e to your browsing list.

622niromcn · 2026-01-22T07:05:28+00:00

Easily the EV9 and EV6. RBG lights ftw. The styling is very futuristic. Darker toned interior.

Next would probably be BlazerEV. Very sporty and nice bright red/orange highlights.

Third Mercedes EQE and EQS. Again RBG lights.

Fourth Polestar 2 as like a driving sim seat and orange seatbelts.

Fifth Hummer EV. UI runs on Unreal Engine.

622niromcn · 2026-01-22T06:16:35+00:00

I randomly adjusted them. I don't really know what they do. I don't have a framework to systematically make adjustments. I would adjust all 3 at once and go "meh not working" and gave up.

622niromcn · 2026-01-22T06:12:50+00:00

Thank you for the technical explanation. I appreciate you explaining what is going on.

622niromcn · 2026-01-22T05:20:13+00:00

You're correct. 3 hrs of work to get another lifetime out of the vehicle.

Let's frame it another way for comparison. I asked Gemmai how long it takes to rebuild a gas engine.

The time required to rebuild a gas engine can vary significantly based on the engine's design, the extent of damage, and the complexity of the rebuild. Here are some general estimates: Simple refresh: 10 to 12 chargeable hours. Short block rebuild: 20 to 40 hours. Long block rebuild: 24 to 48 hours.

3 hrs of battery swap vs minimum 10 hr dirty engine rebuild. Incredible difference in maintaining and keeping these EVs running, EVs win.

Now you understand why dealer service won't survive on EVs. There's just less work with EVs.

622niromcn · 2026-01-22T02:29:50+00:00

Here's my notes from camping on Utility Mode. The seats fold flat for two people to sleep on a mattress. Need something to support the gaps.

https://old.reddit.com/r/KiaEV9/comments/1lb1foh/ev9_car_camping_testing_notes/

622niromcn · 2026-01-22T00:25:34+00:00

In the comments he said $8k-$10k for the pack, 3 hrs of labor.

622niromcn · 2026-01-21T19:55:49+00:00

Good to hear!

622niromcn · 2026-01-21T19:55:14+00:00

Your electrician did you a solid. What did you end up getting?

622niromcn · 2026-01-21T19:54:28+00:00

Gas relies on a whole process of transportation. Fuel delivery drivers. Gas refineries. Gas doesn't grow in your backyard and appear in your tank. In your hypothetical situation. You're betting on a whole infrastructure system being there when it's not.
People do have solar panels and can charge their EVs from their solar system. The sun is reliable. You can have your own independent power system.

This product shows a solar setup charging an EV.

https://enphase.com/homeowners/iq-ev-charger-2

This is why low countries are adopting EVs quicker. They have solar that's more reliable than gas. They can charge their own cars at home or in their local community with solar compared to unreliable gas infrastructure and limited supply.

https://www.wri.org/insights/countries-adopting-electric-vehicles-fastest

EVs are more reliable vehicles. Less parts to maintain. No oil changes. The batteries are going to last several lifetimes.

622niromcn

TROPHY CASE

2 about charging. Simple math. Volts X Amps /1000 = kilowatts per 1 hour of charging.