6 months storage of Kona EV-

mikeselectricstuff said:
Do you honestly expect a dealer to have a clue about something like this ?
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No, I don't. Which is why the dealer needs to forward on to Hyundai.

You'll notice that no one in this whole thread actually answered the OP's question regarding 6 months storage. A lot of answers here, but none are answering the 6 months storage question. A lot of assumptions here too. No one even bothered to ask the OP if she has the ability to connect it to electricity or not while in storage.
 
ScubaSteve said:
Good guess ... 2 months? 3 months? 4 months? Or 6 months, which is the question the OP wanted answered? If you don't know, don't post.
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Start a small, smoky fire under it and then park in in your garage. Perfect solution for EXACTLY six months of storage.
 
I realize it's an old thread, but ... six months? I'd charge to somewhere vaguely north of 50%,
and then pull the 12V battery out of it and store it inside the house or wherever the storage
place is, isolated.

For a month's time away I shut off the "fuse switch" on the junction block, and that held up
fine, but I'm not sure I'd trust it for 6 mo.

_H*
 
hobbit said:
I realize it's an old thread, but ... six months? I'd charge to somewhere vaguely north of 50%,
and then pull the 12V battery out of it and store it inside the house or wherever the storage
place is, isolated.

For a month's time away I shut off the "fuse switch" on the junction block, and that held up
fine, but I'm not sure I'd trust it for 6 mo.

_H*
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I concur, except I wouldn't bother pulling the 12v battery out, just make sure the 12 v battery if fully charged and remove the 12 volt ground lead. It will be ready to rock n roll with a simple 10mm ratchet tightening in 6 months. This what I do with our family's fleet of long term storage cars. I think at last count we have 7 in non climate controlled long term storage, some slumber as much as 2 years between startups and the 12v batteries are always good to go.
 
We left our Kona 64kW in the UK for 3 weeks in January (it rarely got below freezing) with it charged to 70% but not plugged in. The 12V battery was dead after 3 weeks! We have a Chevy Bolt in the USA and that was left for > a month not plugged in and started up just fine. I read at the start of this thread that a couple of others found the 12V battery only last a few weeks. Surely they should last longer than that?
 
@KiwiME can probably enlighten us here, having done some analysis of the 12V charging algorithm elsewhere in this forum, but my understanding is that early models allowed the 12V battery to go flat, sometimes in a few days of non-use of the car. In later models that seems to have been fixed. On one occasion during covid lockdown ours (April 2021 build) was left unplugged for a week in the garage and it was fine. Others with earlier models have done similar with less satisfactory results.
 
Liz Rowland said:
We left our Kona 64kW in the UK for 3 weeks in January (it rarely got below freezing) with it charged to 70% but not plugged in. The 12V battery was dead after 3 weeks! We have a Chevy Bolt in the USA and that was left for > a month not plugged in and started up just fine. I read at the start of this thread that a couple of others found the 12V battery only last a few weeks. Surely they should last longer than that?
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Seems odd. Was your car fully updated with the latest BMS software? What was the state of charge of the drive battery after the three weeks?
 
Liz Rowland said:
... 3 weeks in January (it rarely got below freezing) with it charged to 70% but not plugged in. The 12V battery was dead after 3 weeks!
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I can only speculate but the 12V charging regime may have struggled to keep up with losses after 60 hours parked when it switches to a 20 minute once-a-day mode, assuming your car has telematics (Bluelink) and taking account of the cold weather. And of course we're assuming a door wasn't left ajar.

The Kona can check the battery voltage at the start of each 12V charge session and should in-theory add more sessions to make up for it but I've never had the opportunity to witness that. It's not even clear that leaving the car plugged into the trickle charger (EVSE) would have helped. My Kona sat fine for 6 weeks in warm weather and many others have had no problem with long term storage. However, I have noticed that the charge does deteriorate slowly over many days.

The easiest fix for next time is to ensure that it's fully charged (place it in Utility Mode for 2 hours) and then disconnect the battery. Perhaps even remove and store the battery in a warmer place.
 
Wildeyed said:
Seems odd. Was your car fully updated with the latest BMS software? What was the state of charge of the drive battery after the three weeks?
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We bought the car from the dealer in October 2021 with only 50 miles on it. I presume it had the latest BMS software but I'll check. I'm not sure what the charge on the lithium battery was.
 
Liz Rowland said:
We bought the car from the dealer in October 2021 with only 50 miles on it. I presume it had the latest BMS software but I'll check. I'm not sure what the charge on the lithium battery was.
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Others on here know a lot more about how the 12 volt BMS works than I do. I've just noticed that my car charges the 12 volt battery a lot since the last update. I've never had a flat battery since. The only occasion I had that might be analogous to yours was when my car was at the dealership and unplugged for a month. The 12 volt was fine then, and that was long before the revised BMS updates.
 
KiwiME said:
I can only speculate but the 12V charging regime may have struggled to keep up with losses after 60 hours parked when it switches to a 20 minute once-a-day mode, assuming your car has telematics (Bluelink) and taking account of the cold weather. And of course we're assuming a door wasn't left ajar.

The Kona can check the battery voltage at the start of each 12V charge session and should in-theory add more sessions to make up for it but I've never had the opportunity to witness that. It's not even clear that leaving the car plugged into the trickle charger (EVSE) would have helped. My Kona sat fine for 6 weeks in warm weather and many others have had no problem with long term storage. However, I have noticed that the charge does deteriorate slowly over many days.

The easiest fix for next time is to ensure that it's fully charged (place it in Utility Mode for 2 hours) and then disconnect the battery. Perhaps even remove and store the battery in a warmer place.
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------------------
When I observed the green light in the front Logo the first time I had to go to the manual to figure out 'what on earth is this'? And read about he 20 minute in the book but I never bothered to check the number of times it occurs a day or the 20 minutes. (I can't remember reading the 'once a day' statement.) I just assumed the 12V charge/replenish system to monitor the charge level of the 12V battery and kick in 'replenish mode' when needed for as long as as needed. Both the 20 minutes and the once per day puzzle me.

I am thinking; why don't just 'kick in' a Smart Utility Mode (no key needed in the car) to replenish the 12V battery as often and as long as needed? I bet Elon could fix this with an OTA software update. :rolleyes:

In the meanwhile disconnecting the battery ground is the smartest idea. By the way I tried it, and the bolt (marked with E Earth?) is impossible to turn. They must employ Godzilla to tighten it. Need to find a better grip but now it is too cold to work in the garage. :mad:
 
I've never heard anything about the 20 minute once-a-day cycle! The car does have Bluelink; how does that affect the charging?
The weather wasn't particularly cold during those 3 weeks, and there wasn't a door left open, or lights left on. I'd not read about the Utility Mode. Seems like that makes the car use the lithium battery rather than the 12V battery for operating the systems that the 12V battery usually powers, is that right? The dealer now tells us we should plug it in and turn it on for a few minutes once a week, so we'll either do that, or do as you say and remove the 12V battery. I just can't believe the vehicle design means that it can't be left for 2 weeks unless it's plugged in and worry that it's a fault with our vehicle.
 
Wildeyed said:
Others on here know a lot more about how the 12 volt BMS works than I do. I've just noticed that my car charges the 12 volt battery a lot since the last update. I've never had a flat battery since. The only occasion I had that might be analogous to yours was when my car was at the dealership and unplugged for a month. The 12 volt was fine then, and that was long before the revised BMS updates.
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thanks, it's useful to know yours was OK for a month.
 
OzKona said:
Use a 10mm ring or socket, not an adjustable.
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That is what I used, a six pointed one! I found that there is little room to exert enough force with the ratchet.
And just to quell 'smart' suggestions, I know which way to turn a bolt to loosen it. :) I prefer not to touch the battery side of the cable.
 
I suppose it depends on what tools you have to hand. This is what I was thinking of - small 1/4 inch drive ratchet wrench. Plenty of room to work that.

You said you didn't want to touch the battery side of the cable (as I have shown in the pic.) The alternative is to disconnect the earth strap at the inner guard. However if you do that there remains a small wire connected to the neg terminal of the battery, so it may still not be completely isolated. To ensure complete isolation of the battery you need to remove the neg terminal from the battery post and make some arrangement to prevent it coming back into contact with the battery post. Tie it out of the way, insulate it, etc.
upload_2022-2-11_10-27-19.webp
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OzKona said:
I suppose it depends on what tools you have to hand. This is what I was thinking of - small 1/4 inch drive ratchet wrench. Plenty of room to work that.View attachment 15218
View attachment 15218
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See your point. It would work but I would prefer to connect at the other end of the negative connector cable. I have built a 120Amp breaker protected easy access to the battery for my 1000W Pure Sine-wave inverter. Call me stubborn, we all have weaknesses, but I would prefer to leave the battery connector with its flimsy plastic cover untouched. Connection to the chassis elsewhere will give a much neater, cleaner look. Inverter conntions.webp
There is an other connection opportunity, not shown, where the negative battery cable connects to the body. Both bolts are super tight!
 
Lars said:
See your point. It would work but I would prefer to connect at the other end of the negative connector cable. I have built a 120Amp breaker protected easy access to the battery for my 1000W Pure Sine-wave inverter. Call me stubborn, we all have weaknesses, but I would prefer to leave the battery connector with its flimsy plastic cover untouched. Connection to the chassis elsewhere will give a much neater, cleaner look. View attachment 15219
There is an other connection opportunity, not shown, where the negative battery cable connects to the body. Both bolts are super tight!
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I thought we were talking about isolating the 12V battery, but yes, doing what you're doing def connect to the body for a negative. It's poor practice to have a Christmas tree on a battery terminal, though I'm afraid on my 4WD I have just that - no room for better, like a bus bar. (Do as I say, not as I do!! ;):rolleyes:)
Also, there is a current sensing device on the battery terminal. If you did connect load negatives direct to the battery you would bypass that and confuse the electrical system. Connecting any added load negs to the body ensures the new loads are properly measured.

Your installation looks pretty neat.
 
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