Kia "CHARGE UP" Card

I called greenlots to get a card. It works for free at the KIA Dealer in Huntington Beach, Ca. I also ordered a few others, because I would hate to be stranded due to a card issue. I wish they would have cc readers at the stations as well.

I have ordered cards but till now I have used phone apps to activate charging. When I charge at my dealer (Greenlots) I am not charges even though the amount of charge is lasted. I have signed up for all the others as well as plug share.

So I took delivery of my EV+ on 10/31, and there was no chargeUp card in the manual at that time. The dealer said that they were having issues getting the cards.

Here it is 3 weeks later and still no card after a few attempts at contacting my sales guy. Sent an email to the sales manager, and he responded by with the Kia Consumer Affairs number, given to him by the regional sales director. Of course the number he gave me was no longer valid, but it did give me another one to call M-F, so I'll try then.

I stopped by the dealer to use the Chademo charger for the 30 minutes I had to burn. Pulled up, couldn't get it to charge without a card. No one in the dealership had any idea how to get it started, either, or had a card they could just swipe to get me started.

Is there a way to initiate a charge using the EZ Charge app? Or do you have to have a card?

looey said:

So I took delivery of my EV+ on 10/31, and there was no chargeUp card in the manual at that time. The dealer said that they were having issues getting the cards.

Here it is 3 weeks later and still no card after a few attempts at contacting my sales guy. Sent an email to the sales manager, and he responded by with the Kia Consumer Affairs number, given to him by the regional sales director. Of course the number he gave me was no longer valid, but it did give me another one to call M-F, so I'll try then.

I stopped by the dealer to use the Chademo charger for the 30 minutes I had to burn. Pulled up, couldn't get it to charge without a card. No one in the dealership had any idea how to get it started, either, or had a card they could just swipe to get me started.

Is there a way to initiate a charge using the EZ Charge app? Or do you have to have a card?

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The card is only a one-stop card for memberships, so you don't have to carry a bunch of cards. Even if you had the ez card, you'd still have to register with each network, so my suggestion would be to register with all available networks in your area separately, request cards, and download their apps for remote-charging. You'd have a thicker wallet, but at least you could travel further.

I'm impressed that you could last this long without access.

I've had exactly the same issue as looey. I've had my Soul EV for about a month. No card.

My dealer charger won't work without the card, and no one at the dealership has one.
Tried going to another dealership last night; their charger was broken. No news on when it will be fixed.

Spoke to my salesman; he, too gave me the phone number for KIA. After a half hour on the phone with them, the rep told me that the card will be mailed to me, and if I don't get it within another month, I should call back. I managed to remain calm, and thanked him for his efforts.

The good news: the car is great.

Just go to https://www.kiachargeup.com/faq/ and click the email in the FAQ and request a card. When you get your card in the mail go back to kiachargeup.com and register it. From there it will link you to several charging networks in your area to register your card on their network. You can then access the networks you registered with using the ChargeUp card. You still will be able to download their individual apps.

I haven't been to a Kia dealer's charger yet but the plugshare.com listing for one about 60 mile from me is a Greenlots one and has a website and phone number on the charger. Contact Greenlots to get things started. I is easiest to create a greenlots account first, they you can connect the app to your account and initiate charging.

If you haven't done so, get the PlugShare app or use the plugshare.com website. It has user supplied info on most chargers so you can see if one is working and other info about it. Many of the chargers also advertise if they are in use or not with the status showing up on the PlugShare app.

Ah, so I finally received my card in the mail, but wasn't able to successfully register it on the kiachargeup.com site. After emailing Greenlots, they registered the card on their end, but I still can't get it registered on kiachargeup.com. Hopefully it'll 'just work' when I swing by the dealer to try it out. It doesn't bode well that even this part of the process is so problematic.

The Kia charge up card has been my largest headach. One of the selling points was that the salesman told me I can charge my Soul for free at the any KIA deslership that have chargers for life that I own the car.
Everything worked great till the dealership put a $5.00 per instance charge on their charger. I was told it was to deter non Soul drivers from using the charger and that I will get a KIA Chargeup card in the mail. I've used the Greenlots phone app to start the charger at the dealership and pay the $5 when I am in need.

I did all the phone calls and only Greenlots know about the card even though several other networks are advertised on the back of the card.

A last I talked to someone at Greenlots that know about the card and told me that the card charges what ever the location set the amount to be. The majority of their chargers are free but in the cash of my dealership it will always want to charge the $5.

So, I drive into the dealership, park my car, go get a cup of coffee and very politely ask a salesman to go turn on the charger for me every couple days.

I no longer even have the charge up card in my car.

I finally received and registered my new ChargeUp card. I didn't realize that I'd have to have a credit card attached to it, but I guess it makes sense.

Of course, the other day I dropped by the dealer, and low and behold, the level 3 charger didn't require a card anymore. The level 2 never did- it's just a stand with a station that you might install in your own home.

I have gotten to the point that I am just going to purchase a level 2 for my home or have the charge cord that came with the car upgraded to level 2.

I mainly use NRG and AV now. I have a membership with both, NRG pay as I go and AV is a monthly for unlimited us.

I do not even have the charge up card in my car anymore.

The chargeup card was a good idea but someone dropped the ball on it and it's not worth my time to try and find the ball.

I finally got the charge up card after both phoning and emailing Greenlots.

I was astounded, however, to see a $5 charge on the card after I used it at Performance KIA in Everett, WA. Thinking it was a mistake, I called Greenlots to have them remove it. They said to call KIA.

KIA customer service says that individual dealers can charge whatever they want to anyone who uses their charger, including Soul EV owners. Performance KIA will give me access to the Level 3 if I go inside and ask a salesperson, but if I use the stupid card I have to pay.

I think people should know about this before they consider buying or leasing the Soul EV.

I just registered my Chargeup card after leasing a '16 Soul EV this past weekend. I already have a Greenlots, Blink and eVgo card from my previous car ('12 Leaf), so I'm not sure how much the Chargeup card will help me (other than minimizing the stack of cards I keep in my car). You don't need a card at all to charge free at the Level 3 station at my dealer, Lee Johnson Kia, in Kirkland, WA.

I'm not surprised that Performance Kia would ask you to pay for a charge, even though Kia claims that you can charge for free at any dealer. I really wanted to lease a Soul EV from Performance, as they are very close to my work, but they seemed to be particularly uninformed about the car and charging it up. Both times I visited Performance Kia, their Level 3 station was ICE'd up. The crowning touch was that they informed me that one of the advantages of their dealership was free oil changes (!). The Lee Johnson salesman also touted their free oil changes, but he laughed as he said it. Even so, I still would have leased a Soul EV from Performance if they hadn't pulled all the classic auto sales shticks on me: "Let me get my Manager to see if we can possibly go lower than this", "So, what do we need to do to get you into this car TODAY?", etc. They originally quoted me a lease deal that was literally TWICE what I was offered at Lee Johnson.

Dealer did not know about it but I found it in glove compartment when I got home. I registered and it is pretty good. You can charge at Chargepoint, NRG, Blink, Greenlots. All free for first 2 hours. NRG fast charge is free for first 30 minutes for first 60 days.

After 60 days, I'll have my solar panel and Level 2 charger installed so will not worry about paying.

Dealer did not know anything but I found KiaCharge card in glove compartment and it turns out I can use it at all charging stations. Mostly free. You have to go and sign up with all networks though. No chargepoint indicated on it but I was able to register the card on chargepoint and it works. First 2 hours free. Quick charge Chamedo is free for first half hour for first 2 months from activation.
After that, you pay. I don't plan to use it after 2 months anyhow. I'm getting solar panel and charger in my house

Does anyone know if these Charge Up cards are just for the US, or are Canadians supposed to get them too? I didn't get one with my car, and I'm just wondering if it's worth contacting the dealer to ask about it.

Jon said:

Does anyone know if these Charge Up cards are just for the US, or are Canadians supposed to get them too? I didn't get one with my car, and I'm just wondering if it's worth contacting the dealer to ask about it.

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Haha.. not only do you NOT get one of these cards, but if you are in Ontario (like me) there's almost no where to L3 charge. I'm still astounded when I hear about dealers in Europe and the US that have one... (L3 charger)
I posted on another thread about this - I called Kia Canada to ask when we could expect similar fast chargers around here and they HUNG UP on me.

My sense is that Kia Canada is not at all interested in selling the EV, but they are being compelled to (or "strongly encouraged") by Kia Motors Worldwide. I have no hard evidence of this, I just get that impression given their lack of investment in infrastructure and lack of support for us, the consumer.

2016Electric said:

Jon said:

Does anyone know if these Charge Up cards are just for the US, or are Canadians supposed to get them too? I didn't get one with my car, and I'm just wondering if it's worth contacting the dealer to ask about it.

Click to expand...

Haha.. not only do you NOT get one of these cards, but if you are in Ontario (like me) there's almost no where to L3 charge. I'm still astounded when I hear about dealers in Europe and the US that have one... (L3 charger)
I posted on another thread about this - I called Kia Canada to ask when we could expect similar fast chargers around here and they HUNG UP on me.

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Well, at least we do have some L3 chargers out here in BC, and our government is promising to build more. My wife took the kids up to Squamish yesterday in the car and used a L3 charger there for free! She had to phone GreenLots to get them to authorize it, though, because she doesn't have a smartphone. I just don't want to shell out nine bucks "shipping and handling" for a GreenLots RFID card if I don't have to. Oh well....

Jon said:

Well, at least we do have some L3 chargers out here in BC, and our government is promising to build more. My wife took the kids up to Squamish yesterday in the car and used a L3 charger there for free! She had to phone GreenLots to get them to authorize it, though, because she doesn't have a smartphone. I just don't want to shell out nine bucks "shipping and handling" for a GreenLots RFID card if I don't have to. Oh well....

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Yeah - your province is a little more progressive than ours, I think. Quebec also has a pretty decent network of quick chargers being built out from Montreal to QC.
I don't understand the seemingly anti-EV sentiment around Toronto by some folks. Horribly misinformed (or uninformed) about the tech. for the most part. I try to educate people, shown them the car, let people try driving it... yet people are still unconvinced .. "yeah but only 150 km? ". Ugh! That wouldn't be an issue with L3 chargers everywhere! Sort of a chicken and egg scenario though. Need one to have/need the other...
So, that may have something to do with our charging situation.

Our provincial Gov. promised $20m of grant money in December for private operators to apply for and build L3 stations, but who knows how long that will take or how many will actually be constructed in useful locations. So backward!

2016Electric said:

Yeah - your province is a little more progressive than ours, I think. Quebec also has a pretty decent network of quick chargers being built out from Montreal to QC.
I don't understand the seemingly anti-EV sentiment around Toronto by some folks. Horribly misinformed (or uninformed) about the tech. for the most part. I try to educate people, shown them the car, let people try driving it... yet people are still unconvinced .. "yeah but only 150 km? ". Ugh! That wouldn't be an issue with L3 chargers everywhere! Sort of a chicken and egg scenario though. Need one to have/need the other...
So, that may have something to do with our charging situation.

Our provincial Gov. promised $20m of grant money in December for private operators to apply for and build L3 stations, but who knows how long that will take or how many will actually be constructed in useful locations. So backward!

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Out of ~50,098 cars currently listed in Alberta on trader.ca...there are four EV's for sale. 3 Leafs, and one 2012 Chevy Volt. How's that for anti-EV sentiment? No EV purchase incentives here either...and though I could order a Kia Soul EV (at full retail price); there's zero chance of me arranging a test drive at my my local Kia dealer. Kia has stated that they are going to continue to build out their L3 network at dealerships but I'm not holding my breath.

Still shopping. I oscillate daily between i-MiEV, Spark EV, and Kia Soul EV. Very different cars, but all with their pros & cons. The Kia is my first choice (and with highest wife acceptance factor), but with the highest price tag of the bunch. I'm looking at a few Soul EV's down south at ~USD$22K.

oilerlord said:

Still shopping. I oscillate daily between i-MiEV, Spark EV, and Kia Soul EV. Very different cars, but all with their pros & cons. The Kia is my first choice (and with highest wife acceptance factor), but with the highest price tag of the bunch. I'm looking at a few Soul EV's down south at ~USD$22K.

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FWIW, the i-MiEV was rated as worst green car by Consumer Reports: https://consumerist.com/2016/03/17/10-cars-that-consumer-reports-says-are-not-so-great/ They called it "only slightly better than a golf cart."