2021 Kona EV (Preferred) conversion to LED (exterior and interior)

[navguy12]

LOL!...I have the same fear before I pry open any lens or trim. Referring to the manual to see what's the correct edge to pry normally helps. Without that guidance, we may end up trying to pry with excessive force at the wrong edge where the hinges are located. If the cover is quite translucent, we sometimes can see through which is the hinge and which is the "clip" side.
View attachment 9108

Seen. Once its daylight here and I won't get into trouble because I woke someone up, I'll have a closer look...with my reading glasses on!

And this is what my Amazon.ca shopping cart is shaping up, for the exterior bulbs EXCEPT the headlamps, plus the 33mm interior bulbs:



I "think" this is what I'll get for the headlamps from Amazon.com:

 

[navguy12]

Seen. Once its daylight here and I won't get into trouble because I woke someone up, I'll have a closer look...with my reading glasses on!

And this is what my Amazon.ca shopping cart is shaping up, for the exterior bulbs EXCEPT the headlamps, plus the 33mm interior bulbs:

View attachment 9110

I "think" this is what I'll get for the headlamps from Amazon.com:

View attachment 9111

Headlamps from Amazon.com have been ordered.

Vince08: I was able to get that cover off the lamp in the cargo bay using a jewelers slotted screwdriver at the correct edge.

 

[navguy12]

All exterior lamps, except the headlamps (awaiting delivery) have now been converted to LED with no fan fare:

Front turn signals:



Rear signal lamps:



Backup lamps:



...and the rear cargo area.

I anticipate wiring in a second unit, on the other side, to work in tandem with the single OEM fixture on the rear port side of the cargo compartment:



Headlamps next, will attack next week when back home from a road trip. Cheers.

 

[electriceddy]

All exterior lamps, except the headlamps (awaiting delivery) have now been converted to LED with no fan fare:

Front turn signals:

View attachment 9118

Rear signal lamps:

View attachment 9119

Backup lamps:

View attachment 9120

...and the rear cargo area.

I anticipate wiring in a second unit, on the other side, to work in tandem with the single OEM fixture on the rear port side of the cargo compartment:

View attachment 9117

Headlamps next, will attack next week when back home from a road trip. Cheers.

That was quick, even for air freight! The back up lamps (#1156) curious to see how bright they are.

 

[navguy12]

That was quick, even for air freight! The back up lamps (#1156) curious to see how bright they are.

The pictured products were all fulfilled by Amazon, I suspect they were in a warehouse in the Toronto area (I am in eastern Ontario).

My 15 second test of the back up lamps in my darkened garage leads me to believe they will be more than adequate for the task.

And I did the rear bulb swap outs with my back on a creeper...once I did my reconnaissance of the rear under chassis trim part I knew what to expect.

Total job for all lamps concerned was less than 30 minutes.

I am pleasantly suprised with the engineering and quality of the bits and bobs on this car...the way the chassis panels come off, the way the rear lamp housings fit into and out of their respective positions...even the clearance between the plastic inner (rear) wheel well protectors and the body sheet metal of the (rear) wheel wells.

All very reminiscent of working on late 70s and early 80s Toyota and Honda products 40 years ago.

 

[KiwiME]

I find late VWs quite good as well for consistent quality throughout. BMW seem to forget about that the moment something's not visible.

 

[persianrider]

Navguy how are those reverse lights or all of them for that matter in direct sunlight/daytime

LEDs tend to be super bright at night and sometimes not so bright in the daytime

my wife’s kona ev is arriving this coming week and I want to make the led swap as well but I’m torn between philips led bulbs which tend to be more expensive and have so so reviews

Seeing as how meticulous you are and I’m one OCD mofo lol , I’ll definitely take your word for it if you say these are good bulbs/brightness

 

[navguy12]

Navguy how are those reverse lights or all of them for that matter in direct sunlight/daytime

LEDs tend to be super bright at night and sometimes not so bright in the daytime

my wife’s kona ev is arriving this coming week and I want to make the led swap as well but I’m torn between philips led bulbs which tend to be more expensive and have so so reviews

Seeing as how meticulous you are and I’m one OCD mofo lol , I’ll definitely take your word for it if you say these are good bulbs/brightness

I can’t give you a definitive answer as I don’t have enough data to do so. I’ll know in about six weeks with more use, but right now I’m in what I would consider the shakedown phase...and I haven’t even got the headlamps yet

But I will post results as they become apparent to me.

Once the headlamps arrive, I’ll post my experience with the install including aiming the lamps as required.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

 

[Lars]

I'm starting a new thread to capture any lessons learned that I will encounter when I upgrade the lamps in my wife's new 2021 Kona EV (Preferred).

Following her on her drive home with her new car, I noted the "delay" of the incandescent turn signal bulbs (rear bumper) versus the LED built into the exterior rear view mirror.

All the rear brake lamps (all red lamp housings) are LED, but the turn signals are not...and it looks unsettling to my eye.

So, in any event, I'm going to want to swap out all the external lamps (with the possible exception of the hi-beams) and the internal lamps (with the exception of the vanity mirror lamps).

This is a shot of the actual bulb chart from the owners manual:

View attachment 9066

Any firm I contact at this point cannot tell me definitively if their 2020 bulbs will fit in my wife's 2021.



My first ask from the community: could you look at your 2018/2019/2020 bulb chart and confirm what the circled bulbs list at?

After Labor Day weekend, I'll probably remove each bulb, take some pictures and measurements and post them here for comparison/comments.

Next time I'm at the dealership, I'll see if the part numbers for the 2021 (lamp housings and bulbs) are the same for the 2020 as that will also determine what will and will not fit...unless there is a proven good online source for Hyundai parts using actual part numbers to confirm compatibility.

Cheers.

I picked up my 2021 Kona Preferred this week and this topic intrigues me. First, because my 2016 Prius already had LEDs all over, including the High/Low beam heads. When I was shopping for the Kona I noticed the Hyundai will reward you with LEDs only of you want leader seats and sunroof and 'air conditioned' seats. Second, when I took the car home and had good look all over I realized that they used left over light bulbs from the Korean war! I had bulbs like these on my 1964 Morris!

So a plan was born to replace the bulbs i can with LEDs. I did some research and I found this site which may be useful to help us in this quest, at least a good place to start. Note the 2019 model year Kona. This need to be checked!

https://www.superbrightleds.com/veh...hicle-led-lights?make=34&model=4224&year=2019

Also scroll down and read about "flashers and load resistors". My choice would be, if an easy fit (?), replace the flasher. Easier than fiddling around with installing a load resistor for each turn signal.

Cheers

 

[navguy12]

I picked up my 2021 Kona Preferred this week and this topic intrigues me. First, because my 2016 Prius already had LEDs all over, including the High/Low beam heads. When I was shopping for the Kona I noticed the Hyundai will reward you with LEDs only of you want leader seats and sunroof and 'air conditioned' seats. Second, when I took the car home and had good look all over I realized that they used left over light bulbs from the Korean war! I had bulbs like these on my 1964 Morris!

So a plan was born to replace the bulbs i can with LEDs. I did some research and I found this site which may be useful to help us in this quest, at least a good place to start. Note the 2019 model year Kona. This need to be checked!

https://www.superbrightleds.com/veh...hicle-led-lights?make=34&model=4224&year=2019

Also scroll down and read about "flashers and load resistors". My choice would be, if an easy fit (?), replace the flasher. Easier than fiddling around with installing a load resistor for each turn signal.

Cheers

Agree ref your comment regarding load resistors.

As per my post above...

https://www.insideevsforum.com/comm...exterior-and-interior.9430/page-2#post-107778

...these have all worked with no fan fare. Simple plug and play.

I had to use load resistors back on my old 2008 Prius, big PITA...

 

[Lars]

The pictured products were all fulfilled by Amazon, I suspect they were in a warehouse in the Toronto area (I am in eastern Ontario).

My 15 second test of the back up lamps in my darkened garage leads me to believe they will be more than adequate for the task.

And I did the rear bulb swap outs with my back on a creeper...once I did my reconnaissance of the rear under chassis trim part I knew what to expect.

Total job for all lamps concerned was less than 30 minutes.

I am pleasantly suprised with the engineering and quality of the bits and bobs on this car...the way the chassis panels come off, the way the rear lamp housings fit into and out of their respective positions...even the clearance between the plastic inner (rear) wheel well protectors and the body sheet metal of the (rear) wheel wells.

All very reminiscent of working on late 70s and early 80s Toyota and Honda products 40 years ago.

Now we know here they found the light bulbs , in some old Toyotas.

 

[Lars]

Here are some images I found on Hyundai Kona Forum which may help to size up the work of replacing the rear backup and turn lights and the bulbs used. The forum also has a number good contributions to the subjetct.



This Hyundai Parts link could also be useful.
https://www.hyundaipartsdeal.com/parts-list/2019-hyundai-kona/electrical/head_lamp.html

Cheers

 

[persianrider]

I installed 60W (2x 30W) led bulbs

sure wasn't fun with the tight spot and having to install the H7 adapter for Hyundai

final result, not bright enough at all.... the lightbeam is nice (color and the beam cutoff is perfect) but the actual light when driving isn't impressive at all

returning the 30W bulbs, ordered 55W bulbs

now that the adapter is in, I don't need to break my head, bought the same brand Aukee LEDs just the 55W each version, so it'll be a simple swap

If those are too bright then I'll revert and get 45W each from them

navguy the ones you bought are 36W each, although they fit like gloves out of the box, curious to know if the actual lighting is any good so far ? and who did you get it off amazon? I'm seeing those at 220$ the pair, hence why I told myself ill try Aukee but the stronger ones

 

[Lars]

I installed 60W (2x 30W) led bulbs

sure wasn't fun with the tight spot and having to install the H7 adapter for Hyundai

final result, not bright enough at all.... the lightbeam is nice (color and the beam cutoff is perfect) but the actual light when driving isn't impressive at all

returning the 30W bulbs, ordered 55W bulbs

now that the adapter is in, I don't need to break my head, bought the same brand Aukee LEDs just the 55W each version, so it'll be a simple swap

If those are too bright then I'll revert and get 45W each from them

navguy the ones you bought are 36W each, although they fit like gloves out of the box, curious to know if the actual lighting is any good so far ? and who did you get it off amazon? I'm seeing those at 220$ the pair, hence why I told myself ill try Aukee but the stronger ones

It is nice to be enthusiastic about this project, but there must be some rules regarding head lights. Not sure jumping from this watts to that watts is OK. Also, after changing the headlight bulbs the aim of the lights must be checked and, if need to be, adjusted. I absolutely hate to be blinded by cars driven with miss-adjusted lights, often on old or 'suped up' cars. These are 'obvious' LED upgrades.

For this reason I will proceed with the backup and turn bulbs for now. Once I find the right bulbs - there are too many options, and as someone said here turn signals (and head lights!) carry safety issues.

Remember to stay a safe driver.

Lars

 

[persianrider]

I’m well aware you can’t just slap any bulb on any headlights...hence why I spoke of light beam/cutoff ...I’ve been on car forums for the last 20 years and Have read more than enough about reflector,projector,xenon,led etc ....and the last thing I would do is blind other drivers.

if going 55 is too much ... I’ll revert back to 45.... if that doesn’t work then I’ll go back to better halogen than stock and call it a day....that’s the magic of trying things for yourself...I don’t mind having fun in my garage trying these things and learning from it

 

[apu]

I’m well aware you can’t just slap any bulb on any headlights...hence why I spoke of light beam/cutoff ...I’ve been on car forums for the last 20 years and Have read more than enough about reflector,projector,xenon,led etc ....and the last thing I would do is blind other drivers.

if going 55 is too much ... I’ll revert back to 45.... if that doesn’t work then I’ll go back to better halogen than stock and call it a day....that’s the magic of trying things for yourself...I don’t mind having fun in my garage trying these things and learning from it

I have 55 watt HIDs, love them,definitely not too much.

 

[navguy12]

navguy the ones you bought are 36W each, although they fit like gloves out of the box, curious to know if the actual lighting is any good so far ? and who did you get it off amazon? I'm seeing those at 220$ the pair, hence why I told myself ill try Aukee but the stronger ones

They have not arrived yet, the package is supposed to arrive at or after 15 Sep 2020.

I bought via the US Amazon site:



I'll post my headlamp results (and headlamp re-aiming technique, if required) once they are installed and it is night-time...

 

[persianrider]

Navguy I got the same set of LEDs for front/rear flashers

I have to say I'm impressed with the build and the brightness, I find them a bit too bright though (almost blinding)

my neighbor who's a Porsche Mechanic came by during the day and without me asking told me "I'm surprised Hyundai would put such bright lighting, hurts the eyes"

So I'm debating swapping them out for something less bright, did you get any feedback or have the same reaction ?

I swaped the lights to the 45W each Aukee and luckily I found a 13$ adapter kit that comes with a key that literally makes it plug and play within 15 minutes (no more fiddling with the other adapter that is a ***** to work wirth)

One question, these LEDs come with a small box, it fits into the housing but I'm wondering if you would drill a small hole to pass the wire/box outside and then back inside ? Wouldn't it get too hot in the housing ? (obviously not in winter but summer nights it would no ?)

FYI the LASFIT ones are using my 13$ adapter I found, I can't find your same seller btw the ones available now are all 200$+ and yours also does not have the little box, I suspect because of the wattage being 36W each, looks like anything 40W+ has a small box

 

[navguy12]

did you get any feedback or have the same reaction ?

None whatsoever.

One question, these LEDs come with a small box, it fits into the housing but I'm wondering if you would drill a small hole to pass the wire/box outside and then back inside ? Wouldn't it get too hot in the housing ? (obviously not in winter but summer nights it would no ?)

Sorry, can't help you there...still waiting for my headlamps to arrive. Personally, I won't be drilling any holes in my wife's car, so if the headlamps turn out to be not bright enough, then the experiment ends there.

luckily I found a 13$ adapter kit that comes with a key that literally makes it plug and play within 15 minutes

Can you provide a link (for dissemination of information to the community)? Thanks.

FYI the LASFIT ones are using my 13$ adapter I found, I can't find your same seller btw the ones available now are all 200$+ and yours also does not have the little box, I suspect because of the wattage being 36W each, looks like anything 40W+ has a small box

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[persianrider]

fair point on the no drilling

Just that I keep reading reviews on people saying after 3-4 hours of driving the lights flicker, must be because it gets too hot, I'll leave it as is since it fits perfectly in there, if not, I'll probably revert back to Halogen as well but better bulbs

As for the adapter, I'm at the office right now so restricted on printscreen but you can search below and you'll find it

So far it fit perfectly the Aukee LED bulbs, the advertising says its made for the RCP bulbs but that's not true at all. It also looks identical to the ones your LED kit comes with

RCP H7 LED Headlight Bulb Adapter Holders Socket Base Retainers for Kia Hyundai Accord, 2 pcs