Kia to launch an EV ‘pick up and charge’ service for car owners

Kia is launching a trial for its “pick up and charge” program for electrical car owners. The South Korean automaker revealed this information on Thursday, May 27.

The Korea Herald reported that this service would be open for 24 hours to accommodate EVs any time of the day. This “pick up and charge” service is available in most parts of Korea.

“We have come up with an on-demand pickup and charge system in order to reduce any inconvenience that all-electric vehicle drivers may face in everyday life,” Kia said in a statement.

The new app for the EV charging service

For this program, Kia Corporation released an exclusive mobile app called the eON. Through this application, EV owners can schedule a date, time, drop-off point, and location of car pickup. It should be noted by owners that they should schedule a pickup time at least three hours prior to the desired time.

After the EV owner sends the details via the eON app and confirmed by Kia, a staff member will come and pick up the vehicle then drive it to the closest charging station. The EV will be returned through the stated designated point that was registered.

Customers do not have to worry about their car as well because they can track its location in real-time. He will also have the data on the progress of charging and the staff’s contact details.

In the trial, the eON app will initially be only available for Android users. This will eventually expand to iOS users when the “pickup and charge” service is officially launched. A Kia official said that the service could be introduced within the year.

Pickup and charge program jointly developed with YWMobile

In any case, Kia’s pickup and charge was jointly developed with YWMobile, and this was first announced in March. As per Korea Bizwire, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop the said service and app together.

It was agreed under the MOU that Kia and YWMobile will also jointly run the one-stop service - from the registration of requests for service to the pickup, charging, and delivery of the EV back to the owner.

Meanwhile, Kia is set to release its newest EV6 all-electric car model in the second half of this year. Pre-orders are ongoing, and many have already reserved their units. This will feature ultra-fast charging and is dubbed as the world’s first EV that is capable of charging on an 800-volt system that makes it possible for the car to reach 80% in just 18 minutes, as per USA Today.