2021 Kona EV (Preferred) conversion to LED (exterior and interior)

I find late VWs quite good as well for consistent quality throughout. BMW seem to forget about that the moment something's not visible.

 

Navguy how are those reverse lights or all of them for that matter in direct sunlight/daytime

LEDs tend to be super bright at night and sometimes not so bright in the daytime

my wife’s kona ev is arriving this coming week and I want to make the led swap as well but I’m torn between philips led bulbs which tend to be more expensive and have so so reviews

Seeing as how meticulous you are and I’m one OCD mofo lol , I’ll definitely take your word for it if you say these are good bulbs/brightness

 

I picked up my 2021 Kona Preferred this week and this topic intrigues me. First, because my 2016 Prius already had LEDs all over, including the High/Low beam heads. When I was shopping for the Kona I noticed the Hyundai will reward you with LEDs only of you want leader seats and sunroof and 'air conditioned' seats. Second, when I took the car home and had good look all over I realized that they used left over light bulbs from the Korean war! I had bulbs like these on my 1964 Morris!

So a plan was born to replace the bulbs i can with LEDs. I did some research and I found this site which may be useful to help us in this quest, at least a good place to start. Note the 2019 model year Kona. This need to be checked!

https://www.superbrightleds.com/vehicle/2019-hyundai-kona-electric-vehicle-led-lights?make=34&model=4224&year=2019

Also scroll down and read about "flashers and load resistors". My choice would be, if an easy fit (?), replace the flasher. Easier than fiddling around with installing a load resistor for each turn signal.

Cheers

 

Now we know here they found the light bulbs , in some old Toyotas.

 

Here are some images I found on Hyundai Kona Forum which may help to size up the work of replacing the rear backup and turn lights and the bulbs used. The forum also has a number good contributions to the subjetct.



This Hyundai Parts link could also be useful.
https://www.hyundaipartsdeal.com/parts-list/2019-hyundai-kona/electrical/head_lamp.html

Cheers

 

I installed 60W (2x 30W) led bulbs

sure wasn't fun with the tight spot and having to install the H7 adapter for Hyundai

final result, not bright enough at all.... the lightbeam is nice (color and the beam cutoff is perfect) but the actual light when driving isn't impressive at all

returning the 30W bulbs, ordered 55W bulbs

now that the adapter is in, I don't need to break my head, bought the same brand Aukee LEDs just the 55W each version, so it'll be a simple swap

If those are too bright then I'll revert and get 45W each from them

navguy the ones you bought are 36W each, although they fit like gloves out of the box, curious to know if the actual lighting is any good so far ? and who did you get it off amazon? I'm seeing those at 220$ the pair, hence why I told myself ill try Aukee but the stronger ones

 

It is nice to be enthusiastic about this project, but there must be some rules regarding head lights. Not sure jumping from this watts to that watts is OK. Also, after changing the headlight bulbs the aim of the lights must be checked and, if need to be, adjusted. I absolutely hate to be blinded by cars driven with miss-adjusted lights, often on old or 'suped up' cars. These are 'obvious' LED upgrades.

For this reason I will proceed with the backup and turn bulbs for now. Once I find the right bulbs - there are too many options, and as someone said here turn signals (and head lights!) carry safety issues.

Remember to stay a safe driver.

Lars

 

I’m well aware you can’t just slap any bulb on any headlights...hence why I spoke of light beam/cutoff ...I’ve been on car forums for the last 20 years and Have read more than enough about reflector,projector,xenon,led etc ....and the last thing I would do is blind other drivers.

if going 55 is too much ... I’ll revert back to 45.... if that doesn’t work then I’ll go back to better halogen than stock and call it a day....that’s the magic of trying things for yourself...I don’t mind having fun in my garage trying these things and learning from it

 

I have 55 watt HIDs, love them,definitely not too much.

 

Navguy I got the same set of LEDs for front/rear flashers

I have to say I'm impressed with the build and the brightness, I find them a bit too bright though (almost blinding)

my neighbor who's a Porsche Mechanic came by during the day and without me asking told me "I'm surprised Hyundai would put such bright lighting, hurts the eyes"

So I'm debating swapping them out for something less bright, did you get any feedback or have the same reaction ?

I swaped the lights to the 45W each Aukee and luckily I found a 13$ adapter kit that comes with a key that literally makes it plug and play within 15 minutes (no more fiddling with the other adapter that is a ***** to work wirth)

One question, these LEDs come with a small box, it fits into the housing but I'm wondering if you would drill a small hole to pass the wire/box outside and then back inside ? Wouldn't it get too hot in the housing ? (obviously not in winter but summer nights it would no ?)

FYI the LASFIT ones are using my 13$ adapter I found, I can't find your same seller btw the ones available now are all 200$+ and yours also does not have the little box, I suspect because of the wattage being 36W each, looks like anything 40W+ has a small box

 

fair point on the no drilling

Just that I keep reading reviews on people saying after 3-4 hours of driving the lights flicker, must be because it gets too hot, I'll leave it as is since it fits perfectly in there, if not, I'll probably revert back to Halogen as well but better bulbs

As for the adapter, I'm at the office right now so restricted on printscreen but you can search below and you'll find it

So far it fit perfectly the Aukee LED bulbs, the advertising says its made for the RCP bulbs but that's not true at all. It also looks identical to the ones your LED kit comes with

RCP H7 LED Headlight Bulb Adapter Holders Socket Base Retainers for Kia Hyundai Accord, 2 pcs