BMS update fail...

Well, if there hasn't been an order for a battery, then I would say either the dealer or Hyundai is lying about having ordered it. Here is how I would probably approach it:

1. Explain to Hyundai and the dealer that you reached out to Mobis and they can find no record of a battery being ordered. Ask them for the Mobis order number for the battery and tell them you will reach out to Mobis again to ensure the order number is accurate and confirm when it will be shipped.
2. If they cannot provide and order number or the order doesn't check out, then one of two options:
   • If you are overall happy with the car aside from the issue, insist on a like replacement from the dealer inventory (or a nearby dealer if none are on the lot) at no additional cost to you.
   • If you are not happy with the car overall, then insist on an immediate by back.

Be clear about what you want and push for it and push hard.

 

I am sorry to hear about your less than encouraging news. I am really starting to wonder about how Hyundai manages its parts supply network.

 

I'm not surprised, I felt the dealership and hyundai were not giving me the right information regarding the ordering process for the replacement battery. They are finalizing my buyback offer and I should get it this week. If they lowball I'm planning to fight for a replacement instead. There is a discussion on this in the Facebook Kona page and it seems some people did get a replacement after a long wait time though (3 to 4 months).

 

File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and post publicly on their Facebook page, yelp, etc. (stick with the facts on Facebook). Additionally, there is likely a dealership licensing board, report it to them as well. Additionally find an email for someone like the vice president of Hyundai or maybe one or two steps down the executive ladder and email them with your issues. You will get results positive results fairly quickly, either the battery will magically be there in less than a week or they will replace the car, etc. all fair rapidly once you do these things.

Always be polite and kind, never threaten and never make any statements that could be construed as opinion unless you specifically state that it is your opinion.

 

Any update?

 

I hope everything works out for you. At least you finally got a new battery.

 

When my Leaf need the battery replaced under warranty, I was lucky, I could keep driving it until the new battery came in. Once the battery was in, I brought the car back in and it took them less than a day to change it.

 

I am very glad to hear that you are finally going get your car back, its a very discouraging experience to say the least. I am really enjoying having my Kona back the last 3 weeks and honestly if I never see my dealer again it would be still too soon. Like yourself I am definitely going to wait and see how things go with this new recall.

 

Whatever your decision, I really hope things will work out for you. I read up on the VW ID.4 and it is a nice car. It's about the same price for a base Kona EV SEL, but it includes auto-cruise control which I assume is like what you might get from the Ultimate. I think it's also all-wheel drive too. Yeah, really nice EVs are coming out in a few years....hence it is the reason why I didn't wanted to spend too much money as a first time EV adopter. That is why I did not want to buy a $50,000 Tesla to begin with.

As I, and many of you are experiencing, EVs are still having ALOT of problems. From range to battery management to charging to throttle clunking noises to spontaneous fires...all of the car manufacturers still need a lot of work to do, before we can get a relatively reliable, affordable, and long range EV. I am only thinking of keeping my Kona EV for about a few years (around 5) before I will upgrade to a better EV. I wanted to lease the EV initially, but since my commute is 100 miles/day, there is no lease for that....so I have to purchase it. I have no idea that the Kona EV will be having problems like this in less than 2 years. Hopefully in around a few years, they will have better batteries, and have the experience to analyze what they did wrong in their earlier designs....to come out with better vehicles.

Well, best of luck to you.

 

While there are indeed some issues with EVs, they are still far fewer than ICE vehicles have. When you come to forums like this, you ten to get the two extremes, those that have absolutely nothing bad to say about EVs and those that have the problems and are seeking answers to their problems, you don't tend to get the middle ground the vast majority of people have where yeah there might be a minor issue here or there that is resolved within a couple days at a dealership, but even those issues are rare.