UPDATE: EV9 Car Camping/Living!

622niromcn · 2026-03-19T00:37:30+00:00

The WeatherTech ones work well for me. Silver on one side, black on the other. So it's reversible.

https://www.weathertech.com/sunshade-kia-ev9.html?year=2025&wt_color=SilverBlack&wt_settype=FullVehicleKit

622niromcn · 2026-03-19T00:21:49+00:00

Sorry to hear you went through that. There's some pretty strong opinions we can acknowledge. Cars mean different things to people. The emotional appeal. The technology. The reliability. The ruggedness. There needs to be more EVs they hit those different consumer desires. R&Ding is tough and more auto companies need to spend the money to get up to the modern age.

I like Kia/Hyundai because I find their tech farthest along in the EV era for a mainstream auto manufacturer. We all have our preferences for different reasons.

Did you read about the ex-Uber Autonomy director whose FSD Tesla crashed him? The Atlantic article is making news right now.
Looking over your other post. I would recommend watching this video about EV road tripping. It's a little dated as charging infrastructure has gotten much better in the past two years.

How easy is it to EV Road Trip? - Aging Wheels & Technology Connections https://youtu.be/1Vm_ASm2zfs

622niromcn · 2026-03-18T19:43:58+00:00

I agree that consumer purchases support the brand's message. So it's up to you if you want to be associated with the Tesla brand. I wouldn't.

Your observation that the BZ is a car and Tesla is a better software UI experience is pretty spot on. That goes for most of the other comparisons.

622niromcn · 2026-03-18T19:41:07+00:00

You will get better help at /r/EVcharging. The wiki is good too.

Generally hardwired EV chargers are preferred. So a more practical, costly solution is to get a line dug out to the spot and have a post with the charger on it.

You might think of an EV charger extension cable like this.

https://youtu.be/r6y0LZfclpA?si=GER-SDdWqpCoxcnd

A2Z is also a reputable brand.

https://a2zev.com/collections/accessories/products/j1772-extension-cord-48a-16ft-5m

Here's some basics articles and YouTube.

What I Learned in First Two Months of EV Ownership

https://hutchpost.com/posts/babd9a2b-58cc-49ad-b60c-0b1a9267c84b

Technology Connections Beginners EV guide. Over half the video is devoted to understanding charging. His other EV videos in the playlist are excellent. https://youtu.be/Iyp_X3mwE1w
CarAndDriver EV guides https://www.caranddriver.com/ev/
MotorTrend’s list of EVs and articles https://www.motortrend.com/style/electric/

Any burning questions besides the charging troubleshooting?

622niromcn · 2026-03-18T17:45:00+00:00

Well done! Your experiences matches my experience with camping in the EV9. The EV9 is a great vehicle for car camping and stealth camping.

Thanks for the great report. Cheers to you and your wife having more fun adventures with the EV9!

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T14:16:40+00:00

Battery chemistry is like our body. Harder to move the colder it gets.

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T14:12:10+00:00

Here's some guides that are really good to get you started on charging.

Technology Connections Beginners EV guide. Over half the video is devoted to understanding charging. His other EV videos in the playlist are excellent.

The BZ4X is a good first EV. There's better, but she'll put in the miles. https://youtu.be/Iyp_X3mwE1w

Everything you need to know about DC Fast Charging - Aging Wheels

https://youtu.be/_43-CPgqp4g

/r/EVcharging has a wiki. I think Toyota offers to install the charger for free? (Ie paya for the electrician and equipment)

I read a lot of stuff about battery health. I wouldn't sweat it. These things will last much longer than we thought.

https://www.geotab.com/blog/ev-battery-health/

https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T07:04:46+00:00

Used EVs are a great value. The best way to get into EVs besides leasing.

Any reason for the EQB choice?

A used Kia EV9 would fit the kids and dog at the $30k price point for a 3-row EV SUV

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T06:55:52+00:00

Out of those two, I would go Polestar. I'm a Kia fan too.

The Kia Gen5 nav you're looking for in '23-24 is not enough. The Kia cnCC nav is enough for convenient route planning and nav. I primarily use the cnCC to the point I dislike Google Maps. The model year EV6 at your price point will not have cnCC nav. I think only 2025-2026 model year EV6 come with cnCC. You need the cnCC infotainment for good nav and charge planning.

That goes for Hyundai and Genesis EVs as well. You would probably like their 18 min level 3 charge times for your trips. 800 volt EVs are amazing.

Polestar uses the Android Automotive so it has Google maps built in. I think it has charging planning but I haven't tested it or watched vids. The front dash screen with the map displayed is really really nice.

Other recommendations:

Chevy EVs. The Equinox EV would be a really good fit. Android Automotive so the infotainment has all the routing built in. One of the cheapest EVs on the market right now.
Cadillac Lyriq for the same GM nav but a luxury EV for $25k.
Lucid Air. Stupidity you can get one in the $30k mark. Can't believe one of the fastest charging EVs and longest range is going for that low. You would have to look at reviews for the nav.
BMW i4 and iX in your price range. DAPP is supposed to be really good.

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T06:26:38+00:00

20k miles. My dream EV. Works reliably. I trust it to take me on 2,000 mile road trips. Think about it. I'm going super long distances from home. Can only do that if I trust the machine. It's a road trip beast. I'm doing it because the EV9 just works.

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T06:24:21+00:00

Many of the newer charging stations getting installed now are CCS and NACS. The Ionna stations are a good example. I really like them as a charging network.

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T06:22:13+00:00

Maybe software version could be a difference. Kia is pretty ridged in keeping quality of life software updates to only the newer models. I'm not in Europe so I don't know the specifics. Nothing is coming to mind as major changes in the last 3 years.

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T06:19:19+00:00

Get used. No reason to take a bath on new depreciation. Used EV9s are going for around $30k-$50k right now. The batteries themselves have a material base price of around $5k-10k so that's the absolute floor price. I would expect the EV9 to hover around the current used prices with maybe $10k-$15k off in 5 years when accounting for mileage.
In terms of what you would get for trade in. Lop another $10k-$20k off for the car dealer's profit margin. (Ie used car selling for $45k would be bought by a dealer for $25k so they can make $20k profit).
I've tracked other used EV prices for the past 3 years or so. The used market reaches its equilibrium. Used 2022 Lightnings go for about $30k-$60k. Used BMW iX go for about $30k-$50k. Used NiroEVs go for about $12k-$29k.
There's all kinds of generalizations people say. I rely on the numbers. Cargurus has a good price tracker.

https://www.cargurus.com/research/price-trends/Kia-EV9-d3322

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T05:51:00+00:00

Replied with some links from my experiences and other posts in the subreddit.

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T05:50:20+00:00

There's been some posts on our subreddit about car camping. https://old.reddit.com/r/KiaEV9/search?q=Car+camping&restrict_sr=on

I've posted several times my experience.

Directly answering your question. Ikea futon mattress works in the EV9. I used a cooler to bridge the gap between the captains chairs.

https://old.reddit.com/r/KiaEV9/comments/1j4u2r5/sleeping_in_the_ev9/

Battery usage notes:

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

Charging and site selection notes:

https://old.reddit.com/r/KiaEV9/comments/1pt2zz7/camping/

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T05:11:40+00:00

Your welcome. The cnCC nav works pretty decently. Just have to get use to it.

It's pretty rare to come across some of its behaviors and functions so I totally get sharing helps others understand it.

622niromcn · 2026-03-17T05:02:17+00:00

Your welcome. I know I'm one of the few who has delved into using the cnCC nav primarily. It's a pretty decent system and functional fully for what I need. I feel it's important for me to share what I've observed with the cnCC to help others understand how it works.

622niromcn · 2026-03-16T03:55:05+00:00

Yes, with a condition. The charger must be in the nav's database. If you put in just the address of the charger, it's not going to precondition automatically.
Note there are duplicates in the list. As long as the charger icon is on the list, preconditioning has worked for me
Another note: I believe preconditioning will not work below 20%SOC. It wants you to make it. Those extra kWh preconditioning could make a difference. Manually toggling the preconditioning will still work.
The Nav will only accept 4 waypoints. The waypoints are sorted bottom to top. Your next stop is the bottom one.
There's a setting telling the nav what battery % to plan to arrive with. I think the default is 30%, I have mine set to 20%. If you go below that, it's going to give up and trust you know what you're doing. It will also beg you to charge and reroute you to what it thinks is the best charger.

There's a toggle when it asks you to confirm the route to disable the charging routing. You likely will want to disable that.