Hi all, Didn't want to start a new thread on this, but wasn't sure where else to post this. It seems some of us may be under the 80% limit for many months to come, with no apparent clear plan of action from Hyundai, at least not in Canada. This may not be a big problem for many of us who are mostly doing short trips around town. But with the pandemic restrictions starting to ease off, there will be the desire to go on longer trips to visit grandchildren and so on. The 80% limit will become a nuisance when more frequent trip charging is needed. So, the temptation is to charge to 90% or 100% before heading off on a long trip. But I expect that BlueLink will be watching us? And likely keeping track of those of us who charge above 80%, even if it happens only a few times. I am wondering if we are under a legal obligation to never exceed an 80% charge, or if this is a just a recommended good practice? I bring this up given the likely case that many of us will have to wait many months before a battery replacement or other solution is in effect.
I don't know this for a fact but I believe that Hyundai does not care if you charge over 80%. Their only concern is LIABILITY! They can wash their hands after they informed you that charging above 80% may put you at risk for a fire.. So, if your car burns down, your legal options may be limited as they informed you about the potential danger of charging above 80%.
More than a temptation; I'd call it a necessity and a fairly safe move, with two things in mind. 1) How many Konas have burned up, while standing still, again? It's not a trivial number that's safe to ignore, but it's also not a large proportion of cars. Let's just say that there are proportionally far more collisions that write off cars (electric, gas, or hydrogen) than battery defect disasters. 2) Minimize the time spent idle at 100% state of charge. Based on cheaper and more extensive experience with smaller Lithium batteries, you don't want to get an early start on the charging and leave it at 100% overnight. *Learn* to use the timed charge capabilities and leave it at 80%, with the timer kicking in to boost it to 100% just before you plan to leave. I know the L word above is a sticking point for some drivers but ... well, they probably aren't here on a forum intended for sharing what we've learned! I am the same boat as you and I agree, Hyundai Canada seem to be arriving very late to this party. Cheers and happy travels. eastpole
I agree it is legal posturing. It may also be the concern for the safety of Hyundai owners. They know the defect can cause fires and are trying to do the right thing. I agree if you need 100% for a trip leg, do it. It is not a guarantee of failure but stresses the batteries more than just 80%. If they are stressed enough to fail the test the car performs at 80% SOC, then the car will brick and your trip is over. That's a big deal and if you can hold to 80% then do. I'm not sure what Canada's protection is for defective cars so I can't speak for that. Research or ask your consumer advocate.
Bluelink is not watching you for the purpose of enforcement of anything. The fact remains that out of all the Kona EV fires, only two happened outside of S Korea, one in Canada (July 2019) and one in Austria (September 2019). So out of an abundance of caution in lieu of these extremely rare occurrences, for what it's worth, here's what I do: - Keep the setting at 80% as recommended. When on a trip using public charging, you would normally charge to only 80% anyway, the last 20% takes too long and is costly. - For a long trip originating from home, I charge to 80% the night before, topping off to 100% (outside) the morning of, 90% in warmer weather when mileage performance increases. - Have a smoke alarm placed directly over the vehicle (garaged); that's an easy one, they're cheap. - Only charge during waking hours; if that smoke alarm goes off, I'll know about it immediately. I don't lose a minute's sleep over this whole issue, I think it's been overblown, causing Hyundai to overreact.
I was a good doobie and went to my dealer to ensure the 80% charge limit. The next day, I charged my car and it went to 100% even though Bluelink shows I have an 80% limit! Looks like another trip to the dealer
Not sure why people making issue of being limited to 80% charging. Almost all brands recommend staying between 20-80% charge. For most EV’s there are enough charging stations for road trip. For those in Canada infrastructure for charging not as good as as in the US. Maybe in future they should be listing range that you get at 80% when showing how many miles/kms per charge as I read it in not good for batteries to be charged to 100% Dan Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Dan, you keep talking about inadequate charging infrastructure around Sudbury. Just had a look on plugshare and you have lots of charging infrastructure there, incl free ones. But I didn't find any Tesla superchargers near you. https://www.plugshare.com/location/206413 Can't speak for Ontario, but I know BC is very good, incl out in the rural areas, better than Tesla actually, which are mainly just on the main routes.
The Tesla superchargers is about 15 mins from my apartment. Only free charging I found was 1 charger at Petro Canada station which is with 1 km of the Tesla stations. The few new charging stations new my apartment are limited to 50 kw max. Yes you are correct BC is very good, especially compared to Northern Ontario . I just not big fan of huge cities in southern Ontario. Not sure whether charging stations at car dealerships in Sudbury are free or not , about 10 dealerships near me. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Can you show that Supercharge location on plugshare? I didn't see it. But lots of free level 2 chargers there and other fast chargers (that are not free just like Superchargers). But yeah, the Petro-Canada one is free, so that is all you need.
Found it. What I noticed about plugshare (on the PC) does not show it until you really zoom into that spot. I am not sure why. Pretty useless if you are travelling and looking for a Supercharger.
Have to agree with you there, should not have to zoom in to find it Dan Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
