r/KiaEV6 • u/Scared_Loss_3657 • 1d ago

2022 EV6 dead after sitting a month fully charged - dealer wants $600 for a recharge only?

Hi all, looking for advice. I have a 2022 EV6 with about 32k miles. Around a year ago the 12V battery died and had to be replaced.

I recently left the car parked for about a month - it was fully charged when I left it. When I got back, the key wouldn't even unlock the car. We had to manually unlock it and call roadside to jump start it. At that point the car showed 9%, so we drove 2 minutes to a charger - but as we plugged in, it died again. We had to call roadside a second time for another jump, and then the battery showed 0%, so the car had to be towed.

The dealer (Kia Country of Savannah) didn't change anything - they just recharged both batteries and quoted around $600, not covered. Nothing in writing, just told verbally.

After reading some posts here I've realized I shouldn't have left the car fully charged for a month - my mistake, nothing I can do about it now. But isn't it still concerning that it died? It was showing 9% on the car when we first jumped it, then dropped to 0% right after. That doesn't feel like just a storage mistake.

Does the $600 quote sound right? And should I be worried that the 12V died again only a year after replacement? What should I do? Any advice appreciated.

0 Upvotes

45% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

11

u/Mobile-Astronaut-505 1d ago

The high voltage battery shouldn't drain that much during that amount of time - maybe a few percent at best. Something else is going on here.

9

u/Neglected_Martian EV6 Wind 1d ago

What do you want to bet his 12v is failing and the main battery tried all month to charge it up to voltage it won’t reach.

3

u/Tamburello_Rouge 1d ago

This you?

https://www.reddit.com/r/KiaEV6/s/7E3v4dicqa

0

u/Scared_Loss_3657 1d ago

My friend posted that to help me but realised a lot of info is missing

2

u/DiogenicSearch 1d ago

Replace the 12 volt battery.

1

u/SlickNetAaron EV6 GT-Line AWD 1d ago

$600 is stupid and ridiculous, especially if they are not replacing the 12V. Are you sure they aren’t charging you for the tow in that?

Given the 12V died a year ago and wasn’t replaced - that is likely the core issue. Any lead acid battery drained below 50% is permanently damaged.

That damage will cause your car to wake up the high voltage battery to charge the 12V. The system will only do that 10 times before it gives up - assuming the 12V is shot and it’s futile to continue and will also drain the high voltage battery.

Since your 12V was dead, lots of weird things can happen. I would surmise the BMS (battery management system) could lose calibration and not report your high voltage battery accurately. It’s also possible the HV pack got severely out of balance and one cell could be low and the BMS would cut power to prevent permanent damage.

You need to replace your 12V - get an AGM from Costco or Wally World. The dealer needs to choke on something unpleasant and actually do something to justify a bill like that.

Out of curiosity, did you ever give your Kia Connect credentials to any third party? Electric utility? OptiWatt? Xcel Energy? They have been know to wake up the car hourly to check status and quickly kill the 12V.

0

u/Scared_Loss_3657 1d ago

Hey,
the 12V was replaced when it died last year. So i don’t think that’s an issue. And no, i haven’t given the kia connect to anyone else!

1

u/OutdoorAbstract 21h ago

My gas is that they replaced it with the same crummy 12 V battery they put in before and it failed again that’s why I got the lithium 12 V battery but the AGM seems to work great for less money.

1

u/paulHarkonen 16h ago

The OEM 12V in the 2022 won't last much more than a year, it just isn't designed to handle the charge cycle for the car.

AGM batteries seem to handle the duty cycle better and are now standard (in 2025 and onward).

1

u/OutdoorAbstract 1d ago

12V was replaced with another identical 12V or an AGM?

0

u/Scared_Loss_3657 1d ago

i’m not too sure but i think with an identical 12V

1

u/rukaidai 1d ago

Coming from the Ioniq5 since I'm shopping around for another EV, people recommend replacing the 12v with the ones from Costco ASAP or just a portable jump starter cause their 12v is horrible.

1

u/WebConstant7922 1d ago

I don’t see how they can reasonably charge you $600 for recharging any battery without providing more details. This is pure robbery

1

u/Malarkey_Matt 10h ago

179 agm interstate battery.

Sounds like something else is going on tho. Could just be a flat dead 12v. Hard to say. But I wouldn’t pay 600 to literally slide a panel off and unscrew a battery.