My new Kona Electric and my first impressions

Mdsweb said:
Although if Hyundai has designed the BMS to actually prevent us from ever charging to 100% real chemical charge, by buffering the top end by 10-20% it would be nice if they made this public so we would feel safe reaching their “virtual” 100% state.

Just a thought...
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It would be nice. I like to think more information is always better. Once these cars are in the wild for a bit, I'm sure someone will figure all this out, though.
 
Brennan Raposo said:
Hey all!
I know some of you were waiting in anticipation for me to receive my “premium all weather floor mats” from Hyundai. I got them for cheaper than retail as part of my “deal” - still paid $500 tax in for fronts, rear and cargo tray. First impressions are really good. They’re excellent quality. Sturdy and clearly water resistant. The underlying material is some sort of almost Velcro-like material. They do not budge at all!

Coverage is great. The driver mat covers the whole deadpedal and under the brake and ...gas? Pedal lol.

The rear is one piece and it coveres everything. The lip isn’t quite as high in the rear as it is in the front, but still offers a ton of protection. They seem better built than the weather tech mats which I’ve had in all my past vehicles. The weather tech don’t look very nice, especially in summer. They also tend to warp after a couple of years and look ratty. Granted they have a lifetime warranty which I presume these do not. Only time will tell how these hold up! Here are some photos. Forgot to take one of the cargo tray. I’ll do that when it’s less cold and icy.
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Thanks for the pics! Does the Velcro-like material make it difficult to remove the mats? Say if you wanted to wash them.
 
SkookumPete said:
I was the second buyer of a Prius in BC, after environmentalist David Suzuki, and I've driven them ever since. Three days after learning of the existence of Kona I drove her home. It is a simply brilliant automobile. A lot of the learning for me has to do with the appointments of a car with way more features than I'm used to. Here are some random thoughts and responses.


  • Kona is an awful nanny, and very fussy about things. At charge stations a couple of times, when I've been playing with the accessories, she has grown testy about allowing me to pull out the plug. Once she insisted I turn off the power, but wouldn't allow me to do so. I guess I must have solved that one by pressing the right buttons and pedals. I've yet to figure out the emergency brake, which seems to have a mind of its own.
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I found that if you press the unlock button on the fob, the plug will release.
 
CJC said:
We just did a practice session and used the stop and go on the Smart Cruise Control. Maybe there is a setting somewhere that we have missed. We have it set at 4 car lengths. The stop and go seems okay in city traffic at about 60 km per hour. However hubby and I both agree the stops are a bit more aggressive and abrupt than we usually make. When we are using it at higher rate of speed i.e. 80-90, it is horrifying! It is not slowing down at all until we are nearly up the butt of the vehicle ahead. Then the brakes go on. I was ready to get out and walk as I was shaking so badly as my husband was trying it out. I was to the point of yelling "we're going to die!" The first go around we raced up on the back of a semi trailer stopped and hubby was ready to apply the brakes, but I was saying "for God's sake, put on the brakes". Hubby is perplexed. All we can figure out is it programmed for today's style of driving where we see people race up behind someone and abruptly stop. I hope someone here with a car will jump in and say what there stop and go experiences are like at higher speed than city driving. My husband says it helps with driver alertness to stop at the last instant. lol For me, it confirms my dislike of cruise control. I just read we can use regular cruise control instead of stop and go by pressing the distance feature for more than 2 seconds so we will go for that until we figure out what others experience.
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Yes, I think they need to update the software to start applying the brakes slowly sooner. It might be related to the sight lines of the camera, maybe it doesn't see the other car until it is much later than when you would start applying the brakes. I wonder if it will learn through AI over time. It seems to me that the car is getting a little smarter as time go on. Does anyone know if it has 'learning' capabilities?
 
Wildeyed said:
I'm actually not sure why the August build date matters much. It's a car not a banana. Other than feeling screwed by the delay, that is.
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I think that the august date people are seeing is not an August build date. Cars that came into my dealer had those decals on the windshields and looked like an august build, but my actual build date was Dec. 20, 2018.
 
Brennan Raposo said:
I’m only 3 weeks into owning my Kona and so far, I haven’t done any official research. It’s pretty commonplace info to know not to charge to 100% frequently.

?
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I trickle charge to 100% often. I don't think this will harm the battery in anyway as the actual capacity of the battery is more than 64kwh, so you are not really charging to 100% even though it indicates this.
 
To those of you who fitted their cars with winter tires: did you get TPM sensors from the dealer? If so did you go for aftermarket ones? They quoted me $225 per tire for the OEM sensors and after I stopped laughing I told them I'd opt for the $65 generics. Are your sensors calibrated and working properly? Just curious. I never considered going without sensors as staring at alarm lights on my dash for half the year would drive me nutty.
 
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KonaTom said:
I think that the august date people are seeing is not an August build date. Cars that came into my dealer had those decals on the windshields and looked like an august build, but my actual build date was Dec. 20, 2018.
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I believe one of our forum members had a slightly weird VIN and an actual August build date on his door sticker.
 
KonaTom said:
Yes, I think they need to update the software to start applying the brakes slowly sooner. It might be related to the sight lines of the camera, maybe it doesn't see the other car until it is much later than when you would start applying the brakes. I wonder if it will learn through AI over time. It seems to me that the car is getting a little smarter as time go on. Does anyone know if it has 'learning' capabilities?
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Hmm, I just came home with mine on a 130km drive and it seemed to work just fine. I usually leave a pretty decent gap between me and the vehicle ahead and I found I had to shorten mine to the 1 or 2 setting because at 4 it would start to decelerate and hang back almost 2 tractor trailer lengths.
 
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Wildeyed said:
To those of you who fitted their cars with winter tires: did you get TPM sensors from the dealer? If so did you go for aftermarket ones? They quoted me $225 per tire for the OEM sensors and after I stopped laughing I told them I'd opt for the $65 generics. Are your sensors calibrated and working properly? Just curious. I never considered going without sensors as staring at alarm lights on my dash for half the year would drive me nutty.
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E-mail another dealership and see what they would charge you?
If you were deciding on getting the warranty maybe you negotiate these in free?
 
Didn't even think about the sensors when we got the Michelin CrossClimates. They must have left the sensors in that came with the Nexen tires.
 
So I've left my EV parked and unused for the last week, didn't really want to bother taking it in the snow yet. I've been monitoring the battery levels and the range, so at least I can update everyone on that. In one week of no driving and minimal starting, maybe 2-3 times at most, battery dropped to 85% (from 86) and range dropped to 387km (from 388), not bad at all!! Now if I start driving it I wonder if it will decrease faster, that's for another day.
 
Wildeyed said:
I believe one of our forum members had a slightly weird VIN and an actual August build date on his door sticker.
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That was me that had the different VIN. The sticker on the car in the inside doorsill shows Aug 2018. The weird thing is that I emailed Hyundai Canada and they told me the manufacture date they have on file for this VIN is Dec 2018. I've got a case open with them to get more information...
 
E-Shark said:
So I've left my EV parked and unused for the last week, didn't really want to bother taking it in the snow yet. I've been monitoring the battery levels and the range, so at least I can update everyone on that. In one week of no driving and minimal starting, maybe 2-3 times at most, battery dropped to 85% (from 86) and range dropped to 387km (from 388), not bad at all!! Now if I start driving it I wonder if it will decrease faster, that's for another day.
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Yeah mine dropped 1% sitting in my garage for 3 days without driving. Not bad at all. I didn't check the range before and after though.
 
Today I was driving over the Alex Fraser bridge in the blowing snow. I got an alert showing that my Front Collision Avoidance sensor was blocked and the system would be shutting off. When I parked the car and checked the front of the car the radar sensors were definitely covered in snow and as soon as I brushed them off the system was back to normal. I guess when there is no heat generated by the engine or headlights snow will accumulate on the front.

You can see the 2 orange lights that show up below.


IMG_6571.webp
 
I have to say thanks to all my fellow Kona owners - and soon to be owners (hang in there Wildeyed!) - for all the great info everyone is sharing. I have also limited my driving this week because of the snow in Van city, mostly because of all the terrible drivers out there. The couple times I had my Kona out in the snow I was very impressed with it's stability & traction - and I'm still on the stock tires. I can't wait for the weather to clear - I've still got to take the drive up to Whistler.

Also, I gotta say a big thanks to E-Shark. Last Saturday I took my '92 4Runner to the Scrap-It yard. I started chatting with another customer in the office...we both had just bought a Kona...we both are following the InsideEVs forum..."What's your user name?" says I..."E-Shark" says he! We had a great chat, shared some info and then he was kind enough to drive me to the Skytrain station - saving me at least a half-hour walk on blustery, cold (for Van) winter day.
Thanks again E-Shark! :)

Here's the link to the EV University on-line courses I mentioned: https://evannex.com/pages/ev-curriculum-courses
I haven't completed all the courses yet. It's a few years old & the first few are pretty basic but they do get better (battery tech & regen).
 
Wildeyed said:
To those of you who fitted their cars with winter tires: did you get TPM sensors from the dealer? If so did you go for aftermarket ones? They quoted me $225 per tire for the OEM sensors and after I stopped laughing I told them I'd opt for the $65 generics. Are your sensors calibrated and working properly? Just curious. I never considered going without sensors as staring at alarm lights on my dash for half the year would drive me nutty.
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I got my Michelin X-ice winters installed at Costco $15/tire installation (purchased at Canadian Tire on clearance @$138 ea).

I watched the whole procedure (Like a concerned new parent) and even got to take a peek under the car while on the lift.

I asked them specifically about the TPMS sensors and they said they are built in to the tire valves so it doesn’t matter what you install - they will still work normally.
 
TRUE ONE PEDAL (BRAKELESS) DRIVING!

I’m sure most of you have already used this feature ... but for my first week of driving I have kept it in Regen 3 which basically slows the vehicle to 10km/h and allows you to easily use the brake to come to a complete stop.

THEN TONIGHT I just realized that by holding down the left regen paddle for the last 10km/h the vehicle comes to a complete stop without ANY use of the brake pads!

With a little bit of practice, true one pedal driving can be achieved. The brake pedal literally turns into an “Emergency” brake only.

Wow I’m impressed- really loving this car.
 
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