Mike's wife's monthly Kona EV efficiency report

Happy 2024 to all.

Here is my year end summary in a nutshell.
Distance driven in 2023: 17,997km
Cost of fuel (electricity): C$431.82 (including 11 DC charging sessions!)
Cost per 100km: C$2.40
Total other costs: C$1.268.81
- 2 cabin air filters (2x48.53ea) C$97.06)
- 48,000km service with break check @ independent service C$50.83
- 60,000km Service1 C$94.92 (to maintain warranty - in case)
- a set of Nokian WHR4 all weather tires C$1,029
This was painful. At 60,000km on the tires maybe I could have used the old set of same for an other winter. The guys at KalTire were just as undecided. With everything going up in price I decided bite the 'bullet' now.

I figured that driving ~18,000km in my old Prius with 4l/100km, @$1.50/l would have cost me $1,080, just for gas.

I had my blue coolant replaced and the heat pump compressor replaced, both under warranty.

An other observation. I never paid any attention to my monthly Bluelink report before. But for November it shows Total Power Consumption 1,482Wh, Motor Consumption 1,240Wh.
Regenerated Power 611Wh - that is just below 50% of the motor consumption!
Checked previous months and the reports are pretty consistent. Wow!

Cheers

 

I am driving on Nokian WRG4 tires for years. Had them on my 2016 Prius for 4 years before traded it for my Kona. So here is my assessment. They work very well for our use in snow, in slush on wet or dry roads. We are retired and 90% of our driving is in and around town. So we have generally plowed roads, but also sometimes ice. Other than that I find the WRG4 a bit noisy on the Kona. They lasted longer on the Prius but EVs are heavy. According to a tire design engineer from Michelin, tires on EVs tend to last 30% less than on ICE cars. The torque and weight is hard on them. The driving style makes a huge difference! There are newer designs now, Michelin Cross Climate comes to mind, but there are others too.

However, if you are a winter sport enthusiast, or going to the cottage regardless of the season or weather, all season tyres will not replace a good winter tire.

I hope this helps.

 

There is a Goodyear plant not far from where I live which re-vitalized the local economy of the small town of Napanee Ontario so I decided I'd get a set of Goodyear winter tires for my 2016 Leaf and kept them for my 2018. They are now 7 years old and have plenty of tread left. However, they are now developing fine cracks in the sidewalls so it's probably time to go. They have actually outlasted the summer tires which must be replaced at the end of this winter. And I might add that they are mounted for 5 months of the year and have more mileage than the Ecopia originals.

Sadly,I think the sidewall cracking may have been a result of under inflation. The tire installers inflate to the correct pressure in the nice warm shop. The pressure drop in mid winter cold causes them to go below critical. Inflated to 36psi in the shop they will drop to around 26psi in the deepest cold. At first I had cheaped out and not bought the pressure sensors for my winter rims and just ignored the tire pressure light for the winter. Big mistake as a pot hole slightly bent a rim enough to cause a slow leak.

 

Good point. I keep my tires generally 1PSI above the recommended pressure. Winter time higher for reasons above. 5 LBS maybe too high?

 

Placard pressure is something like 36 psi, which is unacceptably soft and leads to tread-edge wear and
other problems folks have noted. Sidewall is usually 51. I run mine at 60, like I did in the Prius for years
too. Rolls like a bicycle, tracks like rails, does fine in sloppy conditions. The hypermiler community [and
some police organizations] have known about this for a long time, but it never really caught on mainstream.
With modern car tire construction the perceived "overpressure" is perfectly safe long-term.

_H*

 

I like the idea of over inflation still, I find running a tire over the factory recommendation too extreme for my taste. Also, higher the tire pressure the harder is the ride. Kona with the short wheel base is already a bit on the rough side - after my Prius.