It was a delight to see the new 2026 Kia EV4 in U.S.-spec form at the New York Auto Show this week. It’s no secret that the American market isn’t exactly kind to sedans these days, especially electric ones, but the EV4 should be something pretty special. It packs up to 330 miles of range, striking looks and an anticipated mid-$30,000 price tag. Plus, its standard Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug sweetens the deal.
Photo by: Patrick George
I have a strange affinity for seeing NACS plugs on non-Tesla cars, because let’s face it; having such easy Tesla Supercharger access will make your next road trip a lot easier. But when I went to check out the EV4’s charging port at the show, I realized the car is getting something else right about EV charging.
Unlike its bigger brothers, the Kia EV6 and EV9, the EV4 does away with the motorized charging door for a simpler flap that pops open, just like a gas-powered car. Let me tell you, folks: This is how it should be.
Photo by: Patrick George
The powered charging door is one of my least favorite features on modern EVs. My own EV6 works like that; you walk up to it, press the little notch in the door (or a button inside the car) and then pray that it hasn’t broken and will still open without any headaches.
Granted, I’ve never had an issue with the power door on my car. But I worry about it constantly. What if some tiny motor inside it breaks? What if dirt or debris gets inside? What if it somehow gets damaged from the outside? How will I charge my car if any part of this system fails? It’s such a vital part of the car ownership process that it needs to be as simple as possible, and motorizing the charging door—while it may feel “futuristic” and “luxurious”—adds a concerning degree of complication.
Let me put it this way: In all of my years covering the auto industry, and in more than two decades of driving myself, I’ve never heard much about the failure rates of the good, old-fashioned gas tank flap. When things aren’t broken, they don’t need to be fixed.
Forums, Reddit and social media accounts are full of horror stories about charging door failures. Above, you can see a video about a busted door on the Chevy Blazer EV, which has a motorized port where the Equinox EV and related Honda Prologue do not. Note, too, that the police version of the Blazer EV gets a manual charge door—a tacit admission that, if you’re relying on the car, you really can’t afford to have such a crucial part fail.
Photo by: InsideEVs
Granted, it’s not as if every EV has a powered charging door. Not even every Hyundai Motor Group EV offers one. The standard flap seems to be reserved for the lower-end, more affordable EVs, like the Hyundai Kona Electric and Kia Niro EV. (Naturally, the EV4’s sibling, the boxy EV3 crossover, also works the same way.) But I think that the manual door flap should spread to all of its EVs, and even become some kind of regulated industry standard. At the very least, cars should be required to offer a manual backup option if there is a failure. Keeping this process as simple as possible seems like the best way to avoid problems with arguably your EV’s most important function.
Now, some automakers have argued that including a motorized door gives these cars a more “premium” feel. But I would argue that every Polestar I have driven so far has been a pretty nice car, yet none of them have had a motorized door. They do just fine with the good ol’ gas cap-style part instead. Unfortunately for the paranoid among us, the new Polestar 4 goes the power route, and I don’t think the car is any better for it.
My worst experience with this feature happened last year on a Rivian R1T, which I otherwise found to be extremely impressive. That truck’s charging door got stuck in a half-closed, half-open position after the mechanical arm that moves it out and around broke off in a car wash.
Granted, part of the problem was user error. I went looking for Rivian’s Car Wash mode, but couldn’t find it in the software system. That feature keeps the door locked so that the charging door won’t pop open when the brushes come out or it’s being blasted with water. Then again—why does any car need a Car Wash mode? Are normal users really going to remember every time, and be on the hook for a hefty repair bill if they don’t enable it? It feels like all of this can be avoided by just having a normal access door for your charging plug.
Photo by: Patrick George
As EVs move on from being expensive spaceships and become more mainstream vehicles that everyone can drive, it’s time the auto industry also moves on from this unnecessary complication. It’s not a dealbreaker for any EV, at least in my mind; but if you ask me, the EV4 is doing this right.
Photo by: Patrick George
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
