High-Pitched Motor Noise

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Is that the third case now ... I think so? Very puzzling ... I'm slightly deaf but my Kona seems to be silent other than the nice whine it makes when I punch it, just like a failing ring and pinion in an ICE car.
 
I guess I should be glad my Kia Niro EV (same drivetrain as the Kona) hasn't started making this specific noise. All I get now is a low tapping/knocking sound when coasting below 10 mph (see here for sample recording). Anyone hear similar on the Kona and if so, will it get any worse over time?
 
wizziwig said:
I guess I should be glad my Kia Niro EV (same drivetrain as the Kona) hasn't started making this specific noise. All I get now is a low tapping/knocking sound when coasting below 10 mph (see here for sample recording). Anyone hear similar on the Kona and if so, will it get any worse over time?
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Never heard this on my Kona Electric. That would drive me insane since it sounds like something is flapping around and loose.
 
I'm joining this forum because I also have the hissing noise described and captured in the earlier video whenever using either pedal or when the regen brakes are on. I'm in the US and have had my Kona for a couple of months now. It had 180 miles when I bought it, now has 800. I'm pretty sure the sound only started a couple of weeks in, at maybe 300-400 miles. I just finally took it back to the dealer to ask (the brakes have also been squeaking and there's sometimes a bit of a lurch at low speeds when easing on the brakes). They said the hissing is just the pedals activating and was designed that way. I love the car otherwise and only hear it when the windows are down anyway, but will be interested if anyone ever hears anything differently regarding the cause of the noise.
 
SeanH said:
OK. So we put the car up on a lift today and spun the tires (do not try this at home). I turned regen to zero (very important! the higher the regen, the more the wheels would accelerate and then slam to a stop). When I took my foot all the way off the brake The wheels would accelerate (creep?) to around 10mph, then regen back down. It would do this repeatedly indefinitely. The high pitched sound is clearly audible, almost like a hiss.
We poked around all under the vehicle including the wheel wells. We're almost positive this is NOT coming from the wheels/brakes. It didn't sound like it was, plus when we spun the wheels with the car in neutral, we didn't hear the sound (which matches not hearing the sound when you let off the throttle while driving).
We then lowered the car almost all the way to the ground and popped the hood. Again, it seemed as though the sound was coming from the center of the "engine" bay. Also, with the hood up, it sounded much more like an electric hiss than mechanical rubbing. We thought it might be coming from the inverter, but that could've been wishful thinking.
Video is here. The VESS is audible. So is the more typical EV motor sound. But so is the high pitched noise.
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It sounds like VESS to me. I have listened several times.
 
CJC said:
It sounds like VESS to me. I have listened several times.
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I really wish it were VESS. The VESS is a much nicer sound than this raspy ringing, so if you think it is just VESS you likely aren't affected. This sound persists after VESS fades out at 25k. I have noticed it in excess of 35kph. The ringing may best be heard when driving alongside a building or cars that reflect the sound.

I am assuming the Kona drive train is identical to the Niro's and Souls so we may hear more about this from other boards. Curious if anyone in the UK has noticed this.
 
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You can hear the VESS but there is definitely another sound that shouldn't be there.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk
 
I guess one of the ways to rule out the VESS and get a more defined sound is to disconnect the VESS.
KNOCK wood, for now, mine definitely doesnt sound like that.
 
EnerG said:
I really wish it were VESS. The VESS is a much nicer sound than this raspy ringing, so if you think it is just VESS you likely aren't affected. This sound persists after VESS fades out at 25k. I have noticed it in excess of 35kph. The ringing may best be heard when driving alongside a building or cars that reflect the sound.

I am assuming the Kona drive train is identical to the Niro's and Souls so we may hear more about this from other boards. Curious if anyone in the UK has noticed this.
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https://www.speakev.com/threads/electric-motor-high-pitch-noise.137048/
 
It's not the brakes (noise started when I changed the tires), lately I've had my regen on zero. Now I've put it on auto regen and the louder sound is back (:
 
So just came back from dealership... Did a road test, guy couldn't hear what I was talking about. When we ran next to buildings he understood/heard what I was talking about but considered this wasn't out of the ordinary / abnormal. I asked to test out a demo Kona EV they had on hand (Ultimate ; mine is a preferrred trim) = 3 seconds in at 10 mph/20kmh or so I heard the same exact noise. Another Kona was leaving the dealership as I was walking out of the Kona ; same sound. There was an Ioniq driving in ; I didn't hear a similar sound on the Ioniq but it was brief and outside with road noises nearby, so hard to say.

It would seem this is an issue on all Konas (at least the 2 I saw / heard today and mine) but it would also seem that to Hyundai ; this is not an issue. 2 different people listened to the noise I was pointing out ; interestingly enough the older man could not hear it at all and genuinely thought I was crazy I think. The other (younger) did hear it, but faintly / didn't see this as a problem, but they couldn't point out what exactly this was / why it made that sound ... There may actually be a component where some people just don't hear (or care about?) these type of frequencies, whereas for others it's annoying as hell. I wouldn't recommend the Kona to family / friends specifically because of this ; that's how much it annoys me.

I plan on sending a formal letter to Hyundai Canada ; I know this may sound trivial but if there is anything they can do to resolve (or attenuate) this somehow, I'd really like them to try. I love everything about the Kona except soundproofing (pretty loud in there at 50+ mph / 90+ kmh) and that annoying hissing.
 
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MGrognon said:
So just came back from dealership... Did a road test, guy couldn't hear what I was talking about. When we ran next to buildings he understood/heard what I was talking about but considered this wasn't out of the ordinary / abnormal. I asked to test out a demo Kona EV they had on hand (Ultimate ; mine is a preferrred trim) = 3 seconds in at 10 mph/20kmh or so I heard the same exact noise. Another Kona was leaving the dealership as I was walking out of the Kona ; same sound. There was an Ioniq driving in ; I didn't hear a similar sound on the Ioniq but it was brief and outside with road noises nearby, so hard to say.

It would seem this is an issue on all Konas (at least the 2 I saw / heard today and mine) but it would also seem that to Hyundai ; this is not an issue. 3 different people listened to the noise I was pointing out ; interestingly enough one older man could not hear it at all and genuinely thought I was crazy I think. The other 2 (younger) did hear it, but faintly / didn't see this as a problem, but they couldn't point out what exactly this was / why it made that sound ... There may actually be a component where some people just don't hear (or care about?) these type of frequencies, whereas for others it's annoying as hell. I wouldn't recommend the Kona to family / friends specifically because of this ; that's how much it annoys me.

I plan on sending a formal letter to Hyundai Canada ; I know this may sound trivial but if there is anything they can do to resolve (or attenuate) this somehow, I'd really like them to try. I love everything about the Kona except soundproofing (pretty loud in there at 50+ mph / 90+ kmh) and that annoying hissing.
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Is this like the "mosquito tone" used to keep teens from loitering? Your car will repel anybody under 40!
 
For someone like me who is considering buying a Kona, this is very concerning. Has anyone with a US Kona had this experience? If not, could the noise be coming from the heat pump which I understand is lacking on the US models?
 
Since I can turn the VESS off I did and held my precious phone out the window and recorded the spectrum below while accelerating past a wall. I do admit to some deafness but I certainly can't hear any sort of switching noise, nor anything amiss. As for the heat pump, if it's 'off' it's really off. This just looks like general noise, nothing outstanding. Unsure what the bandwidth is of the mic, but the file is 32-bit 16kHz. I'll find a quiet, steep hill and try again under high load at very low speed to minimise background noise.

upload_2019-6-20_19-50-47.webp
 
Thanks for doing this! Since KonaTom and MGrognon are reporting this whining in parking lots and driving in and out of dealers, I am not sure it is worth it for you risk your phone and safety to find a hill and put the car under load. I appreciate your input.
 
PAC said:
For someone like me who is considering buying a Kona, this is very concerning. Has anyone with a US Kona had this experience? If not, could the noise be coming from the heat pump which I understand is lacking on the US models?
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I am in the US and have about 2,100 miles on my Kona with no whining sounds at all. The only noise I can hear is when I accelerate rapidly, there is a jet-like noise that I assume comes from the motor. I find it rather fun. :)
 
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TheLight75 said:
I am in the US and have about 2,100 miles on my Kona with no whining sounds at all. The only noise I can hear is when I accelerate rapidly, there is a jet-like noise that I assume comes from the motor. I find it rather fun. :)
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Yes. That’s the noise I hear now but it’s most of the time , not just while accelerating rapidly
 
Yeah, the jet noise is cool. It sounds like torque ripple from the motor with a bit of gear whine, both seem normal although I don't have experience with other EVs, just machinery in general.
I'm assuming the complaints are resulting from higher frequency noises, closer to what the VESS sounds like, switching frequencies or harmonics of those.
 
Here's another with sound file. Not sure why the roll-off under 8kHz, could be the mic. Sorry about the damn birds chipping, I thought it was a quiet hill.

upload_2019-6-22_10-24-56.webp
 

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