My new Kona Electric and my first impressions

[Wildeyed]

Thanks. I'm assuming it's just me missing something. It usually is.

 

[E-Shark]

I guess the car is more of a scaredy-cat than that driver! But, look, in the end it did its job and stopped. More emphatically than that driver wanted but nonetheless, collision avoided. That's the real lesson.

l held my breath as I was trying out the stop and go feature yesterday but very quickly grew confident in its ability. There were a couple of times when it got confused. When the car you're following turns off or changes lanes the car can race ahead unexpectedly. I'll have to keep an eye on that.

I still haven't solved my charging issue. No matter what I do the car charges immediately upon being plugged in. Not sure what to do. I really am not looking forward to having to schlep out every evening to plug it in to manually "schedule" off-peak charging!

Are you using a Level 2 Charger or the supplied wall charger? I wonder if that would make any difference.

Thanks. I'm assuming it's just me missing something. It usually is.

Open up the Charging port in the front, to the right of the green bars is a button, Scheduled charging deactivation button. Make sure that button isn't on, as it overrides any scheduled charging. Hopefully that's all it is.

 

[Wildeyed]

Are you using a Level 2 Charger or the supplied wall charger? I wonder if that would make any difference.

Level 2 Sun Country/Clipper Creek dumb charger. Seems fine.


Open up the Charging port in the front, to the right of the green bars is a button, Scheduled charging deactivation button. Make sure that button isn't on, as it overrides any scheduled charging. Hopefully that's all it is.

This freaks me out! I had no idea this button exists! Is it in the manual? I clearly missed it. Hell, it's practically invisible even when you know it's there. I have not ever pushed it but that doesn't mean no one has. I have a good feeling that this might solve my mystery. I'll let you know when next I charge. Very hopeful! Thanks so much.

The only questions I have right now are whether pushing it once cancels it once and on subsequent charges it reverts to scheduled charging or do you need to push it again to force it to revert to scheduled charging? Mysteries never cease. I'll give it a shot though.

 

[E-Shark]

Interesting. I'm leaving on a trip to southern California for a month, and no I am not taking the Kona EV. I would if I was travelling alone, but my lady doesn't want to take a chance on the fast charging infrastructure. When I get back I am going to try testing range with different regen levels on the highway.

Too bad, it would have been cool to follow your trip, see the range you get, and how good the charging infrastructure really is. Smart cruise and LKA might have made that trip easier too. Drive safe and have a good trip, get lots of sun!

 

[electriceddy]

Well, you finally got your car, congrats. We communicated on another forum (tslemko). Same colour as mine. Your build date is one day later than mine. To avoid pressing power more than once, make sure you press the brake pedal while pressing power. I tried driving on regen level 0 on the highway, and it felt right, and with auto regen on, it slowed when approaching slower cars, and entered regen going down hills, neat! I found that even with regen at 0, when I press brake, it entered regen first, and only used regen to slow down unless I pressed quite hard on brake. Also, it seemed to enter a better regen level (on the power meter), by using brakes instead of setting regen to 2 or 3. It seemed to get better range on highway, but I haven't taken the time to really test it thoroughly.

Yes finally picked up car today.
First thing I had the service hoist it up and inspected the bottom, and you will be pleased to know that there is a protective plate over the front of the battery (covers the whole bottom right up to the pack -2 pieces) , so no duct tape required!
See 15:40 of this video

I also prior to signing took the vehicle out and pushed R and P while driving which produced an error code on the display ( the salesman said it would't go into improper gear but when I asked him if he actually tried it, the answer was no).
Long day, don't even want to start reading the "Bible", can't believe how thick that manual is.
Reading material for the beach when weather turns back to normal.
BTW is it normal for the GOM to display 453 km ? The heat was set for 26c , car now has 20km on the odo.
Hopefully this will put an end to the taking pre orders in Canada thread, as from now on any pre-orders are just regular post production orders with a wait.

 

[Wildeyed]

Are you sure you're the last? I have a feeling there might be some lurkers waiting, especially in the east. Also, there are a couple here who ordered the Preferred in good faith same time we did. Their wait has been extraordinary.

Yes, the projected milage is always in the mid-400s. I think it'll get smarter the more we drive. Also, if you drive in eco and hypermile a bit you can achieve mid to high 400s in ideal conditions.

And Congratulations! Enjoy.

 

[KonaTom]

Yes finally picked up car today.

Long day, don't even want to start reading the "Bible", can't believe how thick that manual is.
Reading material for the beach when weather turns back to normal.
BTW is it normal for the GOM to display 453 km ? The heat was set for 26c , car now has 20km on the odo.
Hopefully this will put an end to the taking pre orders in Canada thread, as from now on any pre-orders are just regular post production orders with a wait.

Yes. it is quite the manual! Have fun. I haven't had a reading as high as 453 yet, but I only charged it to 100% a couple of times and it was cold outside. I do find the the range figure is quite accurate, better than I thought it would be, and since it is partially based on driving history, my driving in cold weather prior was probably the reason it was only around 420. I won't be driving my electra until I get back in April.

 

[Wildeyed]

Bang! That's the sound of my car's bumper smacking my Dad's bumper and taking it halfway off. So I've officially christened the car. A couple of cracks and some scuff marks on that black bumper strip was the only damage on mine - no sensors busted, thank God. I do something like this every time I get a new car. Pain in the ***. I've just been so distracted by all the newness that I'm not paying enough attention. Today was so blasted cold and I had been trying to manually warm up the car but, despite being plugged in, the climate was being pulled directly from the battery. And when I went into reverse that 201hp rocketed me backward faster than I could react. Sigh.

LKA works fine. I had it turned off as I suspected. I still can't unlock the charging mystery. No matter what I do it insists on charging immediately upon being plugged in. I'm hoping that Bluelink will help override it but I still can't sign up for it. On Saturday they told me try Tuesday and today that are saying "days" before I can try again. He says they are finding that the Kona is more complicated than they anticipated. I say they didn't anticipate anything. And why would a problem with the app mean I can't even register?

Never received any email from Bluelink. Did anybody get a welcome letter with actual instructions? Got my Sirius going after their letter and downloaded the Roadside Assistance app and set it up. So that's been my day so far.

 

[CJC]

Bang! That's the sound of my car's bumper smacking my Dad's bumper and taking it halfway off. So I've officially christened the car. A couple of cracks and some scuff marks on that black bumper strip was the only damage on mine - no sensors busted, thank God. I do something like this every time I get a new car. Pain in the ***. I've just been so distracted by all the newness that I'm not paying enough attention. Today was so blasted cold and I had been trying to manually warm up the car but, despite being plugged in, the climate was being pulled directly from the battery. And when I went into reverse that 201hp rocketed me backward faster than I could react. Sigh.

LKA works fine. I had it turned off as I suspected. I still can't unlock the charging mystery. No matter what I do it insists on charging immediately upon being plugged in. I'm hoping that Bluelink will help override it but I still can't sign up for it. On Saturday they told me try Tuesday and today that are saying "days" before I can try again. He says they are finding that the Kona is more complicated than they anticipated. I say they didn't anticipate anything. And why would a problem with the app mean I can't even register?

Never received any email from Bluelink. Did anybody get a welcome letter with actual instructions? Got my Sirius going after their letter and downloaded the Roadside Assistance app and set it up. So that's been my day so far.

Sorry for the fender bender. I find I have to really pay close attention when reversing as I am not used to that EV surge of power that happens. I don't like it! Concerning Bluelink, I had a fellow at Bluelink who walked me and himself right through the whole registration process after I said to him I had filled out the app info. and now couldn't activate it beyond seeing a couple of items, but no ability to use the remote things. He set up everything as we talked. And then he had me test it. About a week later I did receive something from Hyundai saying I could register now for Bluelink, but I was already hooked up. Ask for the fellow who sets it all up and see what they say.

 

[Wildeyed]

Sorry for the fender bender. I find I have to really pay close attention when reversing as I am not used to that EV surge of power that happens. I don't like it! Concerning Bluelink, I had a fellow at Bluelink who walked me and himself right through the whole registration process after I said to him I had filled out the app info. and now couldn't activate it beyond seeing a couple of items, but no ability to use the remote things. He set up everything as we talked. And then he had me test it. About a week later I did receive something from Hyundai saying I could register now for Bluelink, but I was already hooked up. Ask for the fellow who sets it all up and see what they say.

I'm going to give them a couple days and then call them back to see if they can walk me through. Right now my VIN isn't even showing up for them (whatever that means). Do you have any idea what the " registration code" is?

 

[KonaTom]

Too bad, it would have been cool to follow your trip, see the range you get, and how good the charging infrastructure really is. Smart cruise and LKA might have made that trip easier too. Drive safe and have a good trip, get lots of sun!

I almost talked my lady into taking the kona but when I checked fast chargers on i5 there is one every 30 miles from bc to Mexico border, but many of them are chademo only not ccs. And the cost is about $18 per hour. Yes some are 350 kh but that works out to about the cost of gas. So we decided to take the rav4. Next road trip I take will be with the kona.

 

[CJC]

I'm going to give them a couple days and then call them back to see if they can walk me through. Right now my VIN isn't even showing up for them (whatever that means). Do you have any idea what the " registration code" is?

I believe the registration code is something they get from the paper the dealer sends to them to say that you bought the car. The dealer provides BlueLink with the VIN too. When I phoned I had my bill of sale in hand as they hadn't received the form yet from my dealer and it wasn't registered to me either on their system. My dealer promised to send me a copy of the registration form with the code and that never happened yet.

 

[MelCdn]

The registration code was in the welcome email I got from Bluelink the day before I picked up my car. I was able to register and use the app before I even had the keys (I didn’t turn it on or anything but the dealer said someone else had on theirs and it freaked him out). Maybe it has to do with the dealer providing the right info to Hyundai Canada linking email with car as all seems to be smooth out of my dealership.

 

[Brennan Raposo]

So after spending my first month with the Kona. I must say, I’m still in love.
I find myself looking forward to getting into the car each morning and also getting butterflies just thinking about driving home after work!

I really can’t think of any cons aside from nit-picky stuff. I had 4 passengers in the car for the first time. It was a tad tight but no real complaints. I had to move my seat up a couple of inches but nothing uncomfortable.

I’ve had the “snow covered radar” issue a few times. It usually corrects itself. My wipers also went mad yesterday morning. There must have still been ice over the sensor but there was no rain or snow and they were goin at their fastest speed for a while. Ended up shutting them off. They’re back to normal now.

Cruise control still scares the crap out of me when traffic in the lane you’re in up ahead comes to a complete stop. The car still cruises along, oblivious to the fact that traffic is stopped up ahead until you reach the “follow distance” that you chose. Then it proceeds to SLAM on the brakes and warn you of impending doom. I find this happens even when you’re at the furthest follow distance. If traffic far enough ahead is at a complete stop, it’ll only start to slow down once the cars enter the radar range.

A question I had for any of you:
Since the day I picked it up from the dealership, “winter mode” had been checked “on” in the EV settings. Yesterday, I was showing a work colleague around and went into the EV settings. I noticed winter mode was unchecked. Are you guys aware if it’ll auto-uncheck itself if the weather reaches a certain temp? We had a few warm days this week. And by “warm” I mean like +3 to +5 degrees C. I have never even been back into the EV settings since being at the dealership so I have no idea why it would be unchecked. It explains the nearly 400km range the GOM has been displaying lately. When Winter Mode was “on”, it would display 320 km which would quickly drop to 280/290 in no time. But with it unchecked. I was getting distances displayed exceeding 380 to 390 km.

Another question. Is anyone else itching to start buying accessories?
I think a thread about accessories would be beneficial!

 

[CJC]

So after spending my first month with the Kona. I must say, I’m still in love.
I find myself looking forward to getting into the car each morning and also getting butterflies just thinking about driving home after work!

I really can’t think of any cons aside from nit-picky stuff. I had 4 passengers in the car for the first time. It was a tad tight but no real complaints. I had to move my seat up a couple of inches but nothing uncomfortable.

I’ve had the “snow covered radar” issue a few times. It usually corrects itself. My wipers also went mad yesterday morning. There must have still been ice over the sensor but there was no rain or snow and they were goin at their fastest speed for a while. Ended up shutting them off. They’re back to normal now.

Cruise control still scares the crap out of me when traffic in the lane you’re in up ahead comes to a complete stop. The car still cruises along, oblivious to the fact that traffic is stopped up ahead until you reach the “follow distance” that you chose. Then it proceeds to SLAM on the brakes and warn you of impending doom. I find this happens even when you’re at the furthest follow distance. If traffic far enough ahead is at a complete stop, it’ll only start to slow down once the cars enter the radar range.

A question I had for any of you:
Since the day I picked it up from the dealership, “winter mode” had been checked “on” in the EV settings. Yesterday, I was showing a work colleague around and went into the EV settings. I noticed winter mode was unchecked. Are you guys aware if it’ll auto-uncheck itself if the weather reaches a certain temp? We had a few warm days this week. And by “warm” I mean like +3 to +5 degrees C. I have never even been back into the EV settings since being at the dealership so I have no idea why it would be unchecked. It explains the nearly 400km range the GOM has been displaying lately. When Winter Mode was “on”, it would display 320 km which would quickly drop to 280/290 in no time. But with it unchecked. I was getting distances displayed exceeding 380 to 390 km.

Another question. Is anyone else itching to start buying accessories?
I think a thread about accessories would be beneficial!

Nice to see you so smitten.

 

[Vanryan]

So after spending my first month with the Kona. I must say, I’m still in love.
I find myself looking forward to getting into the car each morning and also getting butterflies just thinking about driving home after work!

I really can’t think of any cons aside from nit-picky stuff. I had 4 passengers in the car for the first time. It was a tad tight but no real complaints. I had to move my seat up a couple of inches but nothing uncomfortable.

I’ve had the “snow covered radar” issue a few times. It usually corrects itself. My wipers also went mad yesterday morning. There must have still been ice over the sensor but there was no rain or snow and they were goin at their fastest speed for a while. Ended up shutting them off. They’re back to normal now.

Cruise control still scares the crap out of me when traffic in the lane you’re in up ahead comes to a complete stop. The car still cruises along, oblivious to the fact that traffic is stopped up ahead until you reach the “follow distance” that you chose. Then it proceeds to SLAM on the brakes and warn you of impending doom. I find this happens even when you’re at the furthest follow distance. If traffic far enough ahead is at a complete stop, it’ll only start to slow down once the cars enter the radar range.

A question I had for any of you:
Since the day I picked it up from the dealership, “winter mode” had been checked “on” in the EV settings. Yesterday, I was showing a work colleague around and went into the EV settings. I noticed winter mode was unchecked. Are you guys aware if it’ll auto-uncheck itself if the weather reaches a certain temp? We had a few warm days this week. And by “warm” I mean like +3 to +5 degrees C. I have never even been back into the EV settings since being at the dealership so I have no idea why it would be unchecked. It explains the nearly 400km range the GOM has been displaying lately. When Winter Mode was “on”, it would display 320 km which would quickly drop to 280/290 in no time. But with it unchecked. I was getting distances displayed exceeding 380 to 390 km.

Another question. Is anyone else itching to start buying accessories?
I think a thread about accessories would be beneficial!

My winter mode unchecks too. I actually have never seen it saved after the car turned off and then back on.

Re: accessories I’m still waiting for my floor mats, roof racks, and trunk liner from the dealership. I’d like to also get something to protect the door sills, something to line the sunglasses holder to prevent the sunglasses from rattling and something for the cup holder to stop coffee mugs from rattling. Haven’t seen anything out there yet specific for the Kona EV really.

 

[Wildeyed]

My winter mode unchecks too. I actually have never seen it saved after the car turned off and then back on.

Re: accessories I’m still waiting for my floor mats, roof racks, and trunk liner from the dealership. I’d like to also get something to protect the door sills, something to line the sunglasses holder to prevent the sunglasses from rattling and something for the cup holder to stop coffee mugs from rattling. Haven’t seen anything out there yet specific for the Kona EV really.

There don't seem to be any, even for the gas Kona. I was hopeful that since more than a year had passed since it hit the market there would be some aftermarket stuff out there, but nope. I picked up some Weathertech trim to fit mats and license plate cover. I'm also eyeing the chrome bumper strip because I think it might spice up the back end a bit. I suspect that the front end will show some real wear given that it's solid as opposed to an open grill. I am looking at that protective film but the pic shows the regular Kona and the EV has a LOT more front end real estate to be covered and I'd want to be sure this option is custom for the EV. I'm also going to grab a touch up pen when it's available. Oh, and mud flaps! Even though these look very tiny and probably ineffectual.

 

[Wildeyed]

So after spending my first month with the Kona. I must say, I’m still in love.
I find myself looking forward to getting into the car each morning and also getting butterflies just thinking about driving home after work!

I really can’t think of any cons aside from nit-picky stuff. I had 4 passengers in the car for the first time. It was a tad tight but no real complaints. I had to move my seat up a couple of inches but nothing uncomfortable.

I’ve had the “snow covered radar” issue a few times. It usually corrects itself. My wipers also went mad yesterday morning. There must have still been ice over the sensor but there was no rain or snow and they were goin at their fastest speed for a while. Ended up shutting them off. They’re back to normal now.

Cruise control still scares the crap out of me when traffic in the lane you’re in up ahead comes to a complete stop. The car still cruises along, oblivious to the fact that traffic is stopped up ahead until you reach the “follow distance” that you chose. Then it proceeds to SLAM on the brakes and warn you of impending doom. I find this happens even when you’re at the furthest follow distance. If traffic far enough ahead is at a complete stop, it’ll only start to slow down once the cars enter the radar range.

A question I had for any of you:
Since the day I picked it up from the dealership, “winter mode” had been checked “on” in the EV settings. Yesterday, I was showing a work colleague around and went into the EV settings. I noticed winter mode was unchecked. Are you guys aware if it’ll auto-uncheck itself if the weather reaches a certain temp? We had a few warm days this week. And by “warm” I mean like +3 to +5 degrees C. I have never even been back into the EV settings since being at the dealership so I have no idea why it would be unchecked. It explains the nearly 400km range the GOM has been displaying lately. When Winter Mode was “on”, it would display 320 km which would quickly drop to 280/290 in no time. But with it unchecked. I was getting distances displayed exceeding 380 to 390 km.

Another question. Is anyone else itching to start buying accessories?
I think a thread about accessories would be beneficial!

FYI - my winter mode was turned on when delivered and has remained so. I got 440km as range estimate when it was 6c. Yesterday at -12c it was 411 both with Winter Mode on.
By the way, are you driving in Sport mode. Those range estimates seem low out of the gate. Or maybe you're not charging to 100%?

 

[Shawn Schinkel]

FYI - my winter mode was turned on when delivered and has remained so. I got 440km as range estimate when it was 6c. Yesterday at -12c it was 411 both with Winter Mode on.
By the way, are you driving in Sport mode. Those range estimates seem low out of the gate. Or maybe you're not charging to 100%?

Mine has been averaging 330km with winter mode on, but I also have been driving relatively short distances without prewarming the car so the battery had to warm up the pack, and I've only been charging to 90%. I also have snow tires on, and it's been cold so those numbers are almost bang on to what I expected. Take the 415km EPA number, subtract 25-30% in the winter, and add 25-30% in the summer, assuming you're driving reasonably haha.

 

[Wildeyed]

Mine has been averaging 330km with winter mode on, but I also have been driving relatively short distances without prewarming the car so the battery had to warm up the pack, and I've only been charging to 90%. I also have snow tires on, and it's been cold so those numbers are almost bang on to what I expected. Take the 415km EPA number, subtract 25-30% in the winter, and add 25-30% in the summer, assuming you're driving reasonably haha.

Which you almost certainly are not!

My dealer who took the Hyundai training ( 3 days apparently) says that there is a significant portion of the battery "hidden" and that charging to less than 100% for battery preservation is not necessary. He said there's no way Hyundai would warantee for 8 years if they didn't have a big margin built in. Compared to my range readings yours seem low I have all the same conditions as you and seem to have about 50 kms more. Maybe your longer history is more accurate than my brief one? Or maybe it's all fiction!