Kia has introduced a series of improvements across its vehicles, including a new charging route planner for the EV6 and all-new Niro EV.

An EV route planner is included with Kia’s latest software update, along with other upgrades

Available as a free software update, the upgrades are intended to bring significant benefits in terms of convenience and ease of use.

The introduction of EV route planning is the main change and ensures the navigation system now detects charging stations along the route and adds them as waypoints automatically, tackling charging anxiety.

The system automatically recognises if battery levels are insufficient to reach the destination and alerts drivers along with a selection of charging stations in the vicinity. To ensure optimal charging time, the vehicle will, if needed, automatically start the battery conditioning process.

The proposed route factors in the current state of charge, Live Charging POI (points of interest) information and the current energy consumption, based on external factors such as topography, weather condition and traffic, as well as the driver style and/or mode.

The new update also prioritises frequently used charging and filling stations in the search. This data is also synchronised between the head unit and customers’ phone apps. Future software updates will enhance functionality further.

Other upgrades include the introduction of the music discovery service Soundhound. The software identifies songs played on the radio and will download song title and artist information from the server, displaying them on the main screen.

Finally, the upgrade introduces new and improved icons and symbols, enhancing the menu structure and interface, simplifying usage.

The improvements will come as standard with all new models – starting with the EV9 – while MY22 vehicles which have telematics can get the updates via over-the-air (OTA) technology. They’re also available for many existing Kia models as manual software updates.