Kia to add OTA performance boost in Australia
Kia will soon join EV specialists Tesla and Polestar in offering over-the-air (OTA) performance boosts for its electric vehicle range.
The boost will become available when the second phase of the new Kia Connect telematics system rolls out OTA and features on demand in about 12 months.
Phase one of Kia Connect has been introduced to Australia with the launch of the Niro compact EV last week.
It will be rolled out progressively to all Kia model line-ups as they are overhauled or facelifted. The entire line-up is expected to be equipped with Kia Connect by 2024.
Paired with a smartphone app and hooked up via the Optus 4G network, the system is being offered complimentary for seven years. Kia hasn’t determined what the subscription cost will be beyond that.
Kia Connect currently comes with a range of safety, security and convenience features that are broadly similar to telematics systems offered by other car brands today. One of the more interesting features for parents or those worried about how their car is being driven is the ability to monitor the car remotely and get an alert if it exceeds a pre-set speed or ventures beyond pre-determined geographical boundaries.
But it’s the addition of OTA that will start to open up more opportunities such as performance boosts for EVs.
Kia currently offers the Niro and sell-out EV6 in Australia, but wants to expand its line-up quickly over the next few years.
The next electric model to arrive will be the 430kW EV6 GT, but that won’t get Kia Connect because it’s not part of an update, but is an addition to an existing lineup. Instead, the EV9 SUV due sometime in the second half of 2023 or early 2024 could be the first Kia EV with OTA performance boosting.
“I don’t want to give too much away but you may be able to buy a bit more performance,” confirmed Kia Australia product planning chief Roland Rivero when asked about the OTA features of Kia Connect.
“You may say, ‘I want to go from a certain figure 0-100km/h to an even quicker figure 0-100km/h’ and that could be something you could purchase.
“That’s the kind of example where it [Kia Connect] starts to get really cool.”
A $1600 upgrade for the Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor was recently announced that added 50kW and 20Nm, cut the 0-100km/h dash time from 4.7 to 4.4 seconds and boosted mid-range acceleration.
Rivero confirmed Kia Connect would evolve further into a third phase in about two years and was bullish about what it would offer.
“By the time we get to phase three this system will be industry-leading,” he promised.
The trend of nickel and diming consumers who have already bought the hardware, but with manufacturers limiting the software is disgusting. This is almost always presented as an opportunity for the customer, but its not, it’s an opportunity its for the vendor to extract more money from the customer whilst the customer makes a choice between losing a feature whose physical components they already own, or giving up the dollars.
Bud the cost of the network into the price of the vehicle, as it already is, and then offer the updates as you normally would.