Hi all, This is my first post. I recently preordered 2021 Kona EV ultimate and want to know what people think of this year’s model in the midst of this massive recall. The dealership reassured me the problem is fixed with SKI batteries, but I am little concerned because right above my garage is my daughter’s bedroom. Do you guys still park outside? Or how concerned should I be of potential fire?
We have a 2019 and have received our recall. Just took it in and had 3 others performed. It is irritating to constantly deal with these recalls. Much of these are software updates. When we took our Kona home yesterday, the software had some pretty major revisions. Although most of the menu items were still there, they were rearranged. I'm not sure what their goal is by shuffling things around. I think they removed more options than added. I personally am not worried about the potential for fire. Our climate is not hot and therefore does not stress the cooling of the battery pack. We usually only charge to 90% and now after the recall 80%. The option is still there to charge to 100% but we probably won't use it. My biggest beef is the reputation of the Konas having tendency to burn up. After the battery is replaced (who knows how long before it happens) it should be as good a new or even better since it has a new pack. The reputation is going to be hard to overcome if you ever want to resell. I'm sure I couldn't sell it now before the replacement if I didn't want to take a big hit. Who wants to buy a car that is possibly going to brick on them and be out of commission for days or weeks? Even after the replacement the reputation will linger. I love the car but... I now own a Model Y and until the battery is replaced in the Kona, I won't take the Kona on any long trips.
I'm not convinced the reputation will be badly damaged. There are lots of cars that burn and most of them are ICE vehicles. Hyundai is replacing the ENTIRE battery assembly which should correct the problem. We're not dealing with a bunch of low quality lemons, but instead a manufacturing defect of one part. If a car manufacturer was building models with tires that had defective sidewalls you could fix the problem by installing a different set of tires. That would correct the problem and return the car to its "full value" state. The same is likely to be true of the Kona and the battery. I'm willing to bet that Hyundai dealers are going to resell pre-owned Kona Electrics at FULL PRICE once they've got new battery packs.
Those are great points. My Kona is going to be leased for four years, but the residual values is very low, so there isnt much merits of leasing it. Plus the model y monthly payment is about the same (800 cad). The only difference is model y doesnt qualify for scrapit (6k), Canadian federal and provincial rebates (9k) or lease end buyout and lease penalty for excess mileage(6k). And model y is about 20 k more expensive than in Canada...
I park outside because you couldn't fit a car in my garage if you chopped it up into a fine powder first. As for the issues, I'm sure they've taken the lessons learned and will apply them to any future models. Look forward to the exciting new issues they'll have!