Scheduled Charging Issues

Discussion in 'Kia Niro' started by wizziwig, May 13, 2019.

  1. wizziwig

    wizziwig Member

    Noticed a few strange issues when it comes to scheduled charging.

    When using the "off peak" charging schedule to delay charging, the LCD screen behind the steering wheel turns on during charging and stays on the entire time until charging is complete (could be many hours on 110V charger). It just shows the 'P' gear indicator and odometer reading. Only way to turn off the screen is to press "lock" on remote. Seems like a waste of power and reduces the life of that LCD display for no good reason.

    Can't figure out the purpose of the "Departure Time" menu. No matter what you put there, the car starts charging either immediately or delayed based on the "off peak" menu selection only. Seems to ignore departure time entirely. If the car needs 2 hours to charge to full and you set departure time to 12 hours from now, it will not wait for 10 hours before starting the charge.
  2. wizziwig

    wizziwig Member

    After playing around with the settings for a few more hours, I finally got the "Departure Time" settings to actually do something.

    Using the KIA Access Android app, under "Schedules", I disabled "charge settings" and "climate settings" and only set departure time. Now the car actually delayed charging so that it reached the target charge level about 15 minutes before departure. In addition to disabling "charge settings", I also had "off-peak" start/stop times both set to 12:am. Maybe that helped since it created a zero time span "off peak" period.

    The problem with the LCD screen behind steering wheel staying on during the charge was still there. Really annoying. Hopefully it doesn't drain the 12V battery and/or lower the lifespan of that screen. Definitely seems like a software bug because hitting "lock" again on remote causes it to turn off as it's supposed to for remainder of charge.

    Speaking of software, this page ( seems to indicate latest software is:

    DE EV (Gen 5.0) DEEV.USA.SOP.V104.190124.STD_H 96554-Q4111 NAM. v13.0

    Attached is a copy of my software version. The photo also demonstrates another software bug. The car keeps flashing a warning on top of the screen to "Please use the system with engine running.". Probably a left-over feature from the ICE version where you need to run the engine/alternator to keep accessories from draining your 12V battery.

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 13, 2019
    Domenick likes this.
  3. jayc1358

    jayc1358 Member

    I have the same software you have. I wonder how we go about updating the software. I see the software update option in the menu but it is looking for a sd card.
  4. wizziwig

    wizziwig Member

    Do you have the Ex or Premium trim?

    You can purchase the update from the same page I linked above. They can either send you an SD card with the update or you can download it and put on your own SD card.

    Unfortunately, it looks like KIA bundles their software updates with their Navigation map updates so you need to pay $145 for the updated maps. I have the EX trim which doesn't even have navigation. Since there is no change log, it's unclear if the software update even fixes any of the issues I've discovered so far.

    My brief success with the scheduled departure feature was short-lived. When I plugged it in tonight, it was back to starting charge immediately. The LCD screen remained lit as usual.

    I wonder if anyone with the Premium trim is having similar issues and what software version they have. I think the EX trim being sold in the USA is the only configuration released without navigation so they may have broken something when removing the "location-based" charging menus that required navigation.
  5. jayc1358

    jayc1358 Member

    I have the Ex without navigation. I do not have a problem with scheduled charging though. I have it set to charge from 8pm to 8am because that is when my electric company is "off peak". I have the departure time set for 8am 7 days a week. When I just plugged it in it is not charging. When you go into the EVO access app does it show your times set properly? How about the clock in the car? Mine time was off by a little bit. Worth checking.
    My 240V level 2 charger which is a juicebox pro 40 allows you to set times to charge. What type of charger are you using? Maybe bypass the car all together by getting a EVSE that allows you to set the time.

    Also, did you see the setting that says "Prioritize off peak"? It also allows you to only charge during off peak. If you set it to "Prioritize off peak" it will charge outside of the off peak if it needs to if it thinks it will not be done in time. That was my interpretation of it. What do you think?
    Last edited: May 14, 2019
  6. wizziwig

    wizziwig Member

    I'm still using the supplied 120V portable charger for now.

    If you set your "off-peak" time as 8pm to 8am, then it's not going to charge outside of that interval - I assume it's around 2pm on east coast when you posted. "Off-peak" scheduling appears to work fine for me too.

    What is not working is the "departure time" setting. When you plug your car in after 8pm but before 8am, it is not supposed to start charging immediately. It should wait as close as possible to your set departure time before it starts charging. For example, if you leave for work at 8am and it takes 2 hours to reach your maximum set charge level % (set in another menu) then it should start charging about 6am, not when you first plug it in or when the "off-peak" period begins.

    Does your LCD screen also remain lit when the car is unattended and automatically starts charging when entering the 8pm-8am window?
  7. jayc1358

    jayc1358 Member

    Ok I misunderstood. I have the center green light blinking and on the screen it says "waiting to charge at scheduled time." I will have to wait to see if it goes out but it has been on for a few minutes. Y3iZW4bDTzmY0MWnQ+DOwg_thumb_11af.jpg 6Em9jZYjSc2+SdlpUWm4xw_thumb_11ae.jpg

    Attached Files:

  8. jayc1358

    jayc1358 Member

    The only other thing I can think of is it ignores departure time when using a 110 volt plug. Hope you get it figured out!
  9. wizziwig

    wizziwig Member

    I see that same message when I turn off the car. That screen turns off fine for me. It's when it approaches the set "departure time" and turns on charging, is when the screen gets stuck with no message except "P" and mileage. Will also be interesting if yours starts charging at 8pm or waits until closer to your departure time. What did you set as departure time and what is the estimated time to reach full charge?
  10. jayc1358

    jayc1358 Member

    Departure time is set for 8am, I am at 48% and it is saying 3 hours 30 minutes on my level 2. I will check it at 8pm and see if it starts charging. I'll let you know. I am in the eastern time zone
  11. wizziwig

    wizziwig Member

    So based on your settings, your car should begin charging approximately 4:30am in order to finish in time for an 8am departure. If your car behaves like mine, it will instead begin charging at start of your "off-peak" period - 8pm. You don't need to check it in the middle of the night. If it doesn't auto-start at 8pm, it's probably going to work correctly. You could double check it around 7am or so to verify that it's still charging and getting close to finishing at 8am. Also remember to check the LCD screen behind steering while to see if it automatically turns off during charging.

    Thanks for doing these tests. If we confirm it's a software bug, I will push KIA and my dealer for a fix.

    What did you set your maximum charge level to?
  12. jayc1358

    jayc1358 Member

    No problem. You have me curious as well. I have it set to charge to 80%. I only will take it on long 150 mile round trips a few times a year so 80% is way more than enough for around town.
    Lektrons likes this.
  13. jayc1358

    jayc1358 Member

    In reading the manual it says that the departure time setting is the "Time you wish to start the vehicle after charging the battery." That makes it sound like it will start the car at that time. If that is true wtf? The only reason I can see that is if it is going to start the climate control.
    Also in regards to off peak it states: "Charging begins at the start of off peak time and charging stops at the end of off peak time." This makes it sound like maybe it will charge the whole off peak time maybe at a reduced rate and is finished by the end of the time. I will check the charge rate tonight as well if it starts charging at 8pm. Last night when I was testing my level 2 it was charging at 7.4kwh so if it is a lot lower then we know that may be it.
    If it starts my car tomorrow morning at 8am I am going to just use my juicebox to control the charging. That would be crazy
    It also states that the charge rate will be displayed on the screen for 1 minute
  14. wizziwig

    wizziwig Member


    The translation may be a bit rough but I think that just means the time you will start the vehicle (by pressing power button) in order to begin driving. Once they know when you wish to start the car (aka depart), they will schedule the start of charging so that driving always begins after charging has already finished. They will not turn on the car for you (unless the climate is also scheduled). Ignore some of the wording in the app and menus where they make it sound like "departure time" is the time it will begin charging. They really mean time it will end charging. They got those terms mixed up for the Kona/Ioniq as well.
  15. Lektrons

    Lektrons Member

    I go as low as 20% and charge to 80% as well, this is best for battery life.
  16. jayc1358

    jayc1358 Member

    That makes sense. Last night it did start charging right at 8pm. It was charging at full speed 7.4kwh and charged for 3 hours 38 minutes and 47 seconds. My screen was initially on but did completely turn off after some time.
  17. wizziwig

    wizziwig Member

    So your departure time setting also doesn't work. I got it to work properly one time as I indicated in the second post but it has't worked since. Definitely looks like a software bug.

    Interesting that your instrument cluster LCD turned off shortly after it started "off-peak" scheduled charging at 8pm. Mine stays on forever until I hit Lock on the remote (even if car is already locked). Maybe something to do with the 120V portable charger usage but that seems unlikely to me - it's AC charging regardless.

    Anyone else still using the portable 120V charger?
  18. jayc1358

    jayc1358 Member

    That is weird. My car was not locked. Please keep me posted if you reach out to Kia. This is not an option that I will be using but I still don't want buggy software.
  19. wizziwig

    wizziwig Member

    The departure time setting (if it actually worked correctly) would be beneficial to people who need to regularly charge to 100%. It would mean the car spends as little time at 100% as possible since it would only reach maximum charge right before you depart and then quickly drop below 100% as you drive. Spending less time sitting at 100% should in theory be better for the battery health. Charging the battery also heats it up slightly and a warmer battery is more efficient at delivering energy when driving (hence the loss in range during winter).

    I might try posting our discoveries over in the Kona forum. Much of this software is common so curious if it has the same bug. Would also like to hear from people with EX Premium or other NAV enabled Niro trims.
  20. wizziwig

    wizziwig Member

    Tested with a L2 charger (pulled about 6 kW). Plugged in charger. Turned on car and clicked on gear icon next to "scheduled charging" and set start time to more than 5 minutes from current time (this allows screens to auto shutdown). Set End-Time to 10 minutes after start time. Selected "Charge only during off-peak". Hit OK to save settings. Then turned off the car and remained in vehicle to see what happens. All doors were closed. After about 3 minutes, all the screens turned off automatically. A couple minutes later it reached the configured Start-Time and the instrument cluster displayed the estimated time to complete charge. 3 minutes later, the estimated time disappeared and was replaced with a blank screen only showing 'P' and mileage. This screen stayed there for the entire 10 minutes until the charging completed at the scheduled End-Time. Had it been a longer test, the instrument cluster would have stayed on for hours.

    I develop software for a living so I find these sort of bugs really frustrating and annoying. I've had the screen turn off automatically on a few rare occasions (usually following a full reset of all the menus) so I know the car is capable of doing it properly. It just won't do it consistently for some reason.

    Filed a support ticket with KIA a week ago with zero response. Guess I will try the dealer next but seeing as I knew more about EVs than anyone at the dealer, I don't have high hopes of them even understanding my issue.

Share This Page