6 months storage of Kona EV-

Thanks, but I only borrowed the idea from https://pmarks.net/konapower/. I though it was a terrific idea neatly thought out.
But I decided to use a much better marine quality breaker made by Blue Sea. I was not thrilled by the comments of users of the cheap 120A breakers on Amazon.

 

I note that in your link he appears to have run the negative from the Anderson direct to the battery negative. If his car (and yours, if you copied him) has a battery current sensor on the negative like mine, then that has been by-passed and load from Anderson socket on the 12V system is not being measured. If ther is no current sensor on the 12V battery negative, fine, put the negative directly onto the battery. If there is, though, then while it will work as shown, the extra load will not be measured; the negative should be bolted to the body. There are plenty of body earth points already used in manufacture. Just use one of those.

 

I will not connect the negative directly to the battery post. There are two other, easy choices. One is where the negative cable from the battery is bolted to the body (not visible on the picture), the other is where the chap connected his Anderson, fastened to the body just below the battery. Note that there is a 150A fuse on the positive battery post (picture). This is the battery load sensor. The 120A breaker (80% load!) is there to make sure this will not blow from my load. The guy did a good job.

 

Saw this too late. The parking break left on while I was away damaged my routers.

 

My Kona EV was in storage for 5 months. Left it plugged in which kept the 12V battery charged the whole time. BlueLink monitoring only lasted 96 hours; a couple of months later it came alive again (power outage??). BlueLink requires the vehicle to be started within the 96 hours time period to stay actively monitoring. Parking brake wasn't engaged so no issues with that. I did do some hard braking to clean off the rust on the brake rotors (I live right beside Lake Ontario). Vehicle started up right away with no errors. A week later traded it in for the IONIQ 5.

 

Just to be sure, is that "trickle charger" the level 1 charger that came with the car or a level 2 charger you had installed? Looks like level 2.

 

Not that it matters but that's a "Level 1" in N. American parlance, the charger that came with the car. It just happens to be mounted in a box.

If you've completed a cold-weather storage experience perhaps outline what you did to prep the car, how long was it left in what conditions and what worked and what didn't, so that we can add to the knowledge base.

 

The driver of my Kona unexpectedly had a change of address and left the car behind in the driveway in the Northeast USA winter for about 3 to 4 weeks after charging it to 80%. When I returned the car had 79% charge and started right up. I haven't tested the 12V battery but it seems fine. It was replaced in December 2021 as part of the recall 200 battery recall, so this being April it was still relatively new. Though not part of the recall, the dealer threw in the 12V battery as he said it was low. The problem I did encounter was part of my own stupidity. I told the driver to leave the car in the driveway because I was afraid the battery would die and it would be more difficult to jump in the garage, or the large battery would go and the car would need to be towed. Neither happened. What did happen is she left the emergency brake on and all that weight for all that time dented the routers. I had to have the dents grinded out.

 

I realize you're not responding to me but ...

In my case, the Kona is always parked outside and exposed to the elements. I did place a car cover on it but high winds blew it off multiple times (designed for a different car); I returned to an uncovered car with the cover embedded in ice on the ground. Typical winters in my area reach -20C for 1 to 2 weeks with lots of snow throughout the winter. And, lots of rain too. The Kona was actually in very good shape - no mice got inside/under the hood.

The keys are having enough charge in the vehicle and 12V batteries and making sure the parking brake isn't applied. The charge port cover stayed in place; I used one that extends a flap that the hood closes onto, a magnetic one would've been blown off by the high winds.

 

Brrr!! No wonder you left it for the winter....I was looking at those covers for the charge port but didn't think it was necessary and couldn't find one that looked easy to use. Maybe next year.

 

My Kona had a 24,000km service recently. Looking at the service to do list I am not sure it was needed (check light bulbs, etc.) but it came with the installation of a software update. I was told my car was on recall list, but my VIN did not show any recall on my computer. Other than ' that it is a BMS update' no one at the dealership seemed to know what the update was for - go figure, but it was installed anyway.
In any case, I noticed that the "12V battery maintenance light" in the front (inside the Hyundai logo) comes on more often then before the SW change. I did not bother with detailed analysis regarding how long the HV battery trickles the 12V unit each time. However, frequent charging is clearly noticeable when I walk into the garage during the day and the light is ON. So without any proof, just thinking; I wonder that the reason people reported issues with 'dead' 12V battery was due to the software, controlling this 'trickle charging', was not keeping the 12V battery at a properly charged state. There is obviously plenty of juice in the HV battery and the 12V unit is working constantly 24hrs/day keeping the various electronics in the car alive.
So if you leave the car unplugged for a long period of time, particularly during the Canadian winter winter , the 12V unit will slowly discharge. No surprise here. The surprise is that the HV battery was not managed properly to keep the 12V unit in working order. It is like dying of thirst beside a water well.

 

The rate of 12V charging was increased from once a day when parked to six times a day with Campaign 196 issued about May 2020, if I recall that date correctly.

But crucially, after about (14) of those charge events (~56 hours) without the car being driven, the rate drops back to the old once-a-day schedule. In my experience monitoring this closely, the 12V battery will then deplete slowly to settle at a lower state of charge, and that's with no BlueLink hardware fitted. It's no surprise to me that problems are encountered in Konas equipped with BlueLink, especially when it misbehaves. Cold weather clearly adds to the problem.

To clarify that further, when the battery is exposed to 14.65 V during each 20 minute charge event it will draw more current when it's partly depleted than it does when it's already starting at a high charge level. So, effectively the battery doesn't discharge down to nothing on the once-a-day schedule, it just finds a new equilibrium at a lower and far less resilient SoC.

 

I trust your observations. I must say I never had to leave my car parked 'for a winter trip' or at an airport. Regardless, it seems to me that my car was 'trickled' more than once a day before the BMS update last week. I was wondering about once a day event, because I was already aware of the 'once a day' recharge I learned from postings on this forum . Now the 'trickle event' is definitely more frequent then it was before the service/upgrade. My car came with Blue Link, but I don't see much use for it.

This all seems to be a silly issue in the 21st century. Just monitor the charge level of the 12V battery and at some point (12V?) kick in the trickle charge to bring it up to 14.65V - as often as needed as long as the HV battery Soc is above 20%.

 

Hello, I am going away this winter, 1st time since I bought the car. I live in Sask where it will be cold but it is in an insulated garage. It sounds like you left yours plugged in. What %. And you did not disconnect the 12v? Did you plug in with a level 2 charger? I only use the level 1.
Looking for someone who has done this in cold temps to make sure I do what is best for the batteries! Thanks

 

There are a number of suggestions on this topic above. There are many options.
- As suggested above set charge HV (drive) battery to 60-80% and leave the car charger connected to the car. This is the simplest solution but I am not sure about using an L1 charger. There is not much load on the 12V battery when the car is off, so logic tells me it should work.
- If I would leave for months I would charge the HV (drive) battery to 60 or 80% and disconnect the negative connection from the 12V battery. Worse case scenario that you may have to recharge the 12V battery when you get home. If you want to avoid the risk of this there are low current 'battery maintainer' devices on the market just clip one on the 12V battery and let it be. (Don't for get to plug it in! )
- If going away for a few days, maybe a week or two, charge the car up to 80%. The drive battery will keep the 12V battery in good shape. The car should start with no problems.
Note: Utility mode does not work if the car is OFF - i.e. keys left in the car. I would not recommend this.

 

OK one more idea. Each has some pros and cons. Take your pick.

 

Hi Linda,

my Kona was left outdoors all the time. I left the battery plugged in at 80 %. This accounts for any extended power outage which my area does get. No issues upon return. 60% is probably fine for you as long as you can check the vehicle status yourself. Don't expect BlueLink to monitor anything since the vehicle must be restarted after 90 hours without use.

 

If Linda can plug the vehicle in to keep her HV battery topped up, why wouldn't you trust the 12V top up from the HV battery? Makes no sense to buy a separate battery maintainer. The HV battery will do its intended job.