I’m in the UK and I’m thinking about switching to fully electric for my work car. I drive a lot—around 30-40,000 miles a year—and after test driving the Kia EV6, I loved it. But I’ve got some concerns about the range and would love to hear from people who’ve had more experience with it.
My daily commute is about 200 miles round trip, so range is a big deal for me. Kia says the EV6 can do 361 miles on a full charge, but during my test drive, the car had 94% battery and was only showing 276 miles. Is that normal? Does the real-world range drop that much?
I’m also a bit worried about the winter months. Here in the UK, we see temps just above freezing, and I’ll be using the heater and defroster. How much does that kill the range? I know it’s hard to say exactly, but I really need to know if the EV6 can handle my daily driving with a bit of charging here and there.
Would really appreciate any tips or personal experiences! I’m new to EVs and just want to make the right choice. Thanks in advance!
Gabriel said:
If you’re doing 200 miles a day, you’ll definitely need to charge every day.
We’ve had the 2024 Air model here in the UK since June. It started off with a range of around 320 miles, but after a few months of driving, it’s settled around 280 miles. I’d recommend getting a home charger because you’ll need to top up daily.
Just a heads up—the 361-mile range is for the 2025 model, which has the bigger 84 kWh battery. The one you drove probably had the smaller 77.4 kWh battery.
The range you see is just an estimate. If the test drives were mostly on highways or if the drivers were heavy on the accelerator, the estimated range will drop. It’s normal.
We average about 270 miles on a full charge with our 2023 EV6 Wind, which has the 77kWh battery. In the UK, where speeds are generally lower, you should get 300+ miles. In winter, you might see a 10-20% drop, so around 250 miles. The estimate you see on the dash is often called the ‘guess-o-meter’ by EV owners because it’s based on your recent driving habits, not necessarily what’s coming up. It’s better to watch the percentage of charge, like you would with a fuel gauge in a petrol car.
As long as you can charge at home, 200 miles a day should be fine. The EV6 charges really fast compared to most other EVs too, so that helps.
Hey, fellow long-distance driver here! My commute is 109 miles one way, across a mountain pass. In the summer, I need to recharge at the end of the day, and in the winter, I sometimes charge a bit at work to get a 10% buffer. If the weather slows me down, I don’t need that extra charge. It’s going fast that drains the battery more than the cold does.
I drive a lot too. Even if I’m pushing it at 85 mph the whole time, I’m not worried about doing 200 miles. For normal driving, with a mix of highways and regular roads, I easily get 300 miles. Just make sure you can charge at home, or it might be a hassle.
I did a test yesterday with my 2023 Wind RWD. I did a 2-hour round trip on the highway at 75 mph and used about 64% of the battery (around 49.5 kWh) to cover 146 miles, which works out to around 228 miles total range.
Highway speeds really hurt the range. I’ll probably try the same test at 70 mph to compare, and I’ll give it a go in winter too. I think 200 miles a day should be fine in the summer, but in winter, you might need to charge a bit during the day for a buffer.
200 miles a day should be fine if you’re driving on a full charge. But if you’re doing 85 mph in winter for the whole trip, you might come up short. At 60-70 mph, you’ll be fine. Real-world range mostly depends on how fast you’re going. The temperature matters too, but speed has the bigger impact.
Check out abetterrouteplanner.com. You can put your commute in there with a fully charged EV6 and it’ll give you a pretty accurate idea of what range you’ll get. You can also factor in outdoor temperatures to make it more precise.
You’ll get between 220-280 miles in real-world conditions—closer to 220 in winter with the heat on. I’m in the UK and have been driving mine for about 1.5 years. Those are the numbers I see.
Since you’re in the UK, you’ve got the redesigned EV6 with the bigger battery. For your commute, you should be fine most days, but you’ll need to charge up to 80-90% daily, depending on the outside temps. Speed matters a lot for range. The ‘Guess-O-Meter’ on the dash is just that—a guess based on your recent trips. Slower driving and mixed conditions will give you better range.
In the US, we still don’t have the redesign, so our range is a bit less with the smaller battery. Make sure your EV6 has the heat pump—it’ll help with winter range.