Kia EV2: Trailer towing: (if equipped) / Driving with a trailer

Towing a trailer requires a certain amount of driving experience and heightened concentration. Before setting out on the open road with your Kia EV2, you must get to thoroughly know your trailer. Acquaint yourself with the unique feel of handling, steering, and braking your vehicle when burdened with the extra weight and inertia of a trailer. Always keep in mind that your Kia EV2 combined with a trailer is significantly longer, heavier, and far less responsive than driving unladen.

Before you start your journey, meticulously inspect the trailer hitch platform, safety chains, electrical connectors, lighting assemblies, tyre pressures, and exterior mirror adjustments. If your trailer features electric brakes, start moving your Kia EV2 and trailer slowly, and then manually apply the trailer brake controller by hand to verify that the trailer brakes are operating correctly. This practical check also allows you to confirm your electrical connection simultaneously.

Following distance

Maintain a following distance of at least twice as far behind the vehicle ahead as you normally would when driving your Kia EV2 without a trailer. This crucial buffer gives you the extra reaction time needed to avoid unexpected situations that require heavy emergency braking or sudden evasive turns.

Passing

You need a significantly greater passing distance ahead when towing a trailer with your Kia EV2. Because of the substantially increased overall vehicle length, you must drive much farther past the overtaken vehicle before it is safe to signal and return to your original driving lane.

Backing up

Hold the bottom of the steering wheel with one hand for intuitive directional control. To steer the trailer to the left, move your hand to the left. To steer the trailer to the right, move your hand to the right. Always back up your Kia EV2 extremely slowly and, whenever possible, have a spotter guide you safely from outside.

Making turns

When executing turns while towing with your Kia EV2, make much wider turns than normal. This wide sweep prevents your trailer tyres from striking soft road shoulders, kerbs, traffic signs, trees, or other roadside obstructions. Avoid jerky, erratic, or sudden steering manoeuvres, and always signal your intentions well in advance.

Turn signals when towing a trailer

When you tow a trailer, it must be equipped with its own dedicated turn signal flasher and auxiliary wiring. The green indicator arrows on your Kia EV2 instrument cluster will flash whenever you signal a turn or lane change. When properly wired and connected, the trailer lights also flash in unison to alert surrounding drivers that you are about to turn, change lanes, or stop.

Be aware that the green dashboard arrows on your Kia EV2 will flash for turns even if the individual bulbs on the trailer are burned out or disconnected. You might mistakenly assume that drivers behind you can see your signals when they actually cannot. It is vital to periodically check to make sure the trailer indicator bulbs are fully operational. You must also inspect the lights every single time you disconnect and reconnect the wiring harness.

Never connect a trailer’s lighting system directly into your vehicle’s factory lighting circuits. Only use an approved, vehicle-specific trailer wiring harness.

Have the approved wiring harness installed exclusively by a professional workshop. Kia recommends visiting an authorised Kia dealer or service partner for certified installation.

WARNING

Failure to use an approved trailer wiring harness could result in severe damage to your Kia EV2 electrical system or cause serious personal injury.

Detection of trailer light connection

Your Kia EV2 can automatically detect when a trailer light connection is established only when you use genuine accessories—such as an authorized tow bar and wiring harness—that communicate directly with your vehicle’s onboard control systems. When you plug in the trailer socket, either depress the brake pedal or activate the turn signal lights. The electronic control unit detects the trailer via the electrical power consumption of the trailer lighting and automatically adapts your vehicle’s advanced driver assistance systems. When you disconnect the trailer, press the brake pedal again or activate the turn signals so the control unit recognizes that electrical draw has ceased. Once registered, the assistance systems that were temporarily disabled will automatically reactivate.

It remains your absolute responsibility to ensure that all electrical connections are secure and all trailer lights are fully operational before and during trailer towing. Always perform thorough manual pre-trip checks.

CAUTION

Use only genuine electrical connections designed for your Kia EV2. Do not attempt to arbitrarily splice or directly tap into the vehicle wiring using unauthorized methods. Doing so may severely damage your vehicle’s electrical architecture, resulting in complex system malfunctions.

Driving on grades

Reduce your driving speed proactively before you start descending a long or steep downhill grade. If you do not properly leverage the regenerative braking system of your Kia EV2, you risk overheating your mechanical brakes through excessive use, causing them to fade and lose braking efficiency.

When climbing a long uphill grade, moderate your speed to around 70 km/h (45 mph) to minimize thermal stress and reduce the possibility of your Kia EV2 high-voltage power electric system overheating.

CAUTION

• When towing a trailer on steep road grades exceeding 6%, pay close attention to the coolant temperature gauge to ensure your Kia EV2 does not overheat. If the temperature gauge needle drifts toward the "H (HOT)" zone or reaches 130 °C (260 °F), pull over and stop safely as soon as possible. You may resume driving only after the vehicle has cooled down sufficiently.

• You must carefully match your driving speed to both the trailer weight and the steepness of the uphill grade to prevent excessive thermal load on the power electric system.

Parking on hills

You should avoid parking your Kia EV2 on a hill whenever you have a trailer attached. People can be seriously or fatally injured, and both your vehicle and trailer can suffer catastrophic damage if they unexpectedly break loose and roll downhill.

WARNING

Parking on a hill

Leaving your Kia EV2 parked on an incline with a trailer attached introduces severe safety risks and could cause fatal injuries if the trailer breaks away.

If parking on an incline with a trailer attached is absolutely unavoidable, follow this precise procedure:

1. Pull your Kia EV2 completely into the parking space. Turn the steering wheel sharply toward the kerb (right if facing downhill, left if facing uphill for left-hand drive vehicles).

2. Firmly apply the electronic or mechanical parking brake and turn off your vehicle ignition.

3. Place sturdy wheel chocks securely under the trailer tyres on the downhill side of the wheels.

4. Start your Kia EV2, depress the foot brake, shift the transmission into N (Neutral), release the parking brake, and slowly let off the foot brake until the trailer chocks fully absorb the vehicle weight load.

5. Engage the foot brake firmly and reapply your parking brake securely.

6. Turn off your vehicle engine, release the foot brake, but leave the parking brake firmly engaged.

WARNING

Parking brake

Leaving your Kia EV2 unattended while the parking brake is not fully and firmly applied is extremely dangerous.

If you leave the vehicle engine running or the brakes unsecured, your vehicle can move suddenly and without warning, causing severe or fatal injuries to you or bystanders.

When you are ready to depart after parking your Kia EV2 on a hill:

1. Depress and hold the foot brake pedal down firmly while you:

   • Start your Kia EV2 engine;

   • Shift the gear selector into D (Drive); and

   • Release the parking brake.

2. Slowly remove your foot from the brake pedal.

3. Drive forward very slowly until your trailer clears the wheel chocks.

4. Bring the vehicle to a safe stop and have an assistant retrieve and stow the chocks.