Concluded: best part of Kona EV i like

Love all the free charging, and great range... I have yet to pay for a charge, and have never charged at home yet either (except for 10 min to test my charger).

We are very lucky to have a free charger just a 15 min walk from home. Good daily exercise, and have grown to enjoy and look forward to the walk.

Planning an excursion trip tomorrow out of town (Othello tunnels), so will see how that goes. Have never used a DC fast charger, so might try that. BC Hydro has free ones at strategic locations along the main hwy routes.

 

I've never felt a similar bond with any car except maybe the Saab 9-3 that I had a brief fling with. In four months I've put on almost 10k km which is about a year's worth of driving for me. I expect I might feel the same way about any good EV, but this one has yet to disappoint in any major way.

Example. The Prius's idiosyncratic placing of the instrument cluster at the top of the dash always made good sense to me. What didn't make sense was that it couldn't be seen through polarized sunglasses. How could a failing so significant make it through the design and testing process? Similarly, the gen 3 AV screen was generally useless because of glare.

Before signing on the dotted line I checked whether the Kona's HUD was usable with polarized glasses. It is. And I have yet to see glare on the touch screen, even with the sunroof open. That's thoughtful design.

 

Are you able to leave the car at the free AC charger for long periods of time? I have no charging access at home but have a choice of a free AC at a big box (10 min walk) or a pay AC or DC (2 min walk). I can only leave it for more than an hour on the pay AC and it's $0.40/unit.

 

It varies, depending on location. Most are 2 - 4 hours. The closest to me, is 2 hours, which I keep to. However, have seen others abuse that, and not sure if someone checks and can give a fine. But 2 hours is usually good enough for a daily charge for me (gives me about 76 kms). We also tend to use a destination (eg shopping mall, rec centre) that has a charger, so do opportunity charging whenever practical. On trips, would use a fast charger (30 or 40 min, all free). Planning to do that tomorrow. They are also usually located close to shopping, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. BC is a very friendly EV region.

 

I am planning on stopping at the one in Hope. I have looked at the comments before and saw a Kona that charged there. So it should work for me. However, I also see right now that the outlet has been downgraded to 25 kW for now. Apparently, they had some problems there a few days ago and the 50 kW one is in for repairs. It says with this one, no need to call or use RFID, just plug in and go. So will see. In any case, won't be a problem, as I should actually have enough range to do a return trip without charging. And there are other L2 chargers all along the way if I need it.

 

Good to hear about the DCFC in Hope. Anyone know about the one at Whistler? I'm planning a visit to a friend in Pemberton. Driving from Vancouver.

 

There are BC Hydro free fast chargers in Squamish and Whistler Village (conference centre parking area). I have not yet used either but have been there with my son (and his Tesla) to check them out.