Range Test Toad trip

Discussion in 'Hyundai Kona Electric' started by Dakota Cole, May 9, 2020.

To remove this ad click here.

  1. Dakota Cole

    Dakota Cole New Member

    On October 25th 2019 we took a 1,342 mile road trip in our new Hyundai Kona Electric. I documented the journey and created a video then posted on youtube check it out.



    I wanted to point out a few things I thought was interesting especially when charging the Kona based on time. Originally I designated our route with long range intense segments and only stopping twice between our home and the destination of Las Vegas Nevada. Two weeks prior we went on a short little road trip to Breckinridge, it was 211 miles and the Kona averaged 3.3mi/kwh, it was below freezing outside and uphill the whole way. We arrived at a whole foods in Frisco (10miles from Breck) with 19 miles left on the Kona. That trip was intense on but it made me rethink how far I wanted to push the range due to conditions.

    So Montrose to Las Vegas direct via i-70 is about 8hrs and 20min however there is a 222mile gap between Grand Junction and Richfield that has zero charging infrastructure and it had two mountain range passes to climb over… That segment made me rethink my route to avoid that black hole. Since that segment wasn’t an option in my mind I sought out a safer way. So I resorted to google, I typed in “best EV route planner” and boom I stumbled across this awesome tool that revolutionized my route planning. https://abetterrouteplanner.com/ you plug in your EV details, trip conditions, Destination and go. It identifies areas where you will stretch your range based off of speed limit, SOC, distance, payload, temperature and elevation of a segment! ITS AWESOME!!! It predicted my Breckinridge trip almost perfectly. So I had a working model I could trust. I put in my Las Vegas trip and sure enough it identified the i-70 black hole and gave me an alternative. It said go north charge in Price, then go through Spanish Fork hit i-15 and then go south. That was the route we went with, please note that cost was and estimate.

    IMG_8890.JPG


    We made it!

    This was the data for the trip:

    Montrose to Grand Junction 63 miles
    Averaged 4.1miles/kwh
    Arrived with 74% SOC
    Charged with Electrify America $21.21
    Departed with 89% SOC

    Grand Junction to Price 164 miles
    Averaged 3.5miles/kwh
    Arrived with 12% SOC
    Charged with Rocky Mountain Power $free
    Departed with 49% SOC

    Price to Spanish Fork 69 miles
    Averaged 4.6miles/kwh
    Arrived with 28% SOC
    Charged with Electrify America $11.12
    Departed with 55% SOC

    Spanish Fork to Scipio 70 miles
    Averaged 3.1miles/kwh
    Arrived with 27% SOC
    Charged with Electrify America $10.99
    Departed with 56% SOC

    Scipio to Beaver 77 miles
    Averaged 3.1miles/kwh
    Arrived with 24% SOC
    Charged with Electrify America $free
    Departed with 79% SOC

    Beaver to Mesquite 145 miles
    Averaged 4.2miles/kwh
    Arrived with 22% SOC
    Charged with Electrify America $13.91
    Departed with 68% SOC

    Mesquite to Las Vegas 83 miles
    Averaged 4.0miles/kwh
    Arrived with 32% SOC
    Charged at the Wynn level 2 $free

    Total spent one way $57.23
    Kona DC Fast Charging costs roughly .08 cents per mile Honda CRV costs roughly .11 cents per mile Toyota Prius Plugin Hybrid costs roughly .04 cents per mile Fun fact, when charging on level 2 chargers the Kona costs roughly .02 cents per mile assuming I’m paying to charge whereas most level 2 chargers are free. In my case I always charge at home where I have a solar array and a net meter so it doesn’t cost anything however you could make the case that the cost of the utility meter fee has a cost non the less and even if we factored in that variable it costs me roughly .02 cents per mile (assuming I drive 1020 miles per month) it’s still way more efficient and cheeper then gasoline even when DC fast charging on road trips not to mention the tax credits.

    So I noticed something interesting when charging the Kona, Im sure it is this way with all EVs and DC fast charging but I wanted to point it out because it was never explained to me very well. The Kona will charge at roughly 78kw when its at a lower SOC such as 0% to 55% but then starts stepping down the draw it will take on the charger. Below is a graph showing the documented steps I noticed. This is huge when considering what to charge to to reach a destination. It seems that it is faster and more efficient to stay low on the SOC and charge just enough to reach your next charger and not over charge as it becomes inefficient when you get into the 55% and above SOC of the Kona.

    IMG_8891.JPG

    Those rates are outside air temp of about 65 degrees Fahrenheit.


    All in all it was a fun trip and we are just helping prove the point that EVs are ready for prime time and totally viable for road trips with todays infrastructure. Although more chargers would make trips even faster for diagonal cross county travel in the US.


    Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
     
    electriceddy likes this.
  2. To remove this ad click here.

  3. hobbit

    hobbit Well-Known Member

    That first charge you did coupled with the known step-downs in charge power at
    high SOC points up exactly why time-based billing like EA keeps clinging to is
    so egregiously unfair. Were you on their "special Kona rate" or anything?

    _H*
     
    Dakota Cole likes this.
  4. ericy

    ericy Well-Known Member

    It looked like using the phone to authenticate failed for some reason, so he went back to using a normal credit card.

    The first charger (ChargePoint) had a fault of some sort - I have gotten that once in a while as well, and the "workaround" was to just unplug and start over again.
     
    Dakota Cole likes this.
  5. ericy

    ericy Well-Known Member

    Dakota Cole likes this.
  6. Dakota Cole

    Dakota Cole New Member

    Yes Iv joined their special rate, I’m bummed it’s set to expire at the end of the year. I wish they could fix that long term and or stop charging by the minute.


    Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
     
  7. To remove this ad click here.

  8. Dakota Cole

    Dakota Cole New Member

  9. Dakota Cole

    Dakota Cole New Member

    Just realized auto correct got me on the title of my thread. Apologies every one! Although toad kind of makes since too since we hop between chargers
     
  10. Dakota Cole

    Dakota Cole New Member

    We did a huge road trip for thanksgiving, around 3000 miles round trip. This is what I mean about the diagonal charging network still needs some gaps filled in. From Trinidad Colorado to Amarillo Texas I was sweating. We made it thought and kudos to the Kona for being and excellent, efficient EV!
    [​IMG]
    Here are a few cool photos of the journey.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]



    Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
     
  11. Dakota Cole

    Dakota Cole New Member

    We had zero issues with EA on this trip, we used swipe to charge every time.
    [​IMG]


    Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
     
  12. To remove this ad click here.

  13. How was the traction in the snow with the Nexens?
     
  14. Dakota Cole

    Dakota Cole New Member

    I was nervous and purchased tire socks before the trip. It did really well though, we didn’t slip, I drove for the conditions and saw a few people slid off Monarch pass and where digging themselves out. But we just glided right over. I did turn Regen off all together so it wouldn’t try to grab when descending the pass.


    Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
     
  15. januszgrabon

    januszgrabon Member

     
  16. januszgrabon

    januszgrabon Member

    I own 2021 Hyundai Kona EV Ultimate 6000 Miles I'm geting 320 miles 5 M/Kw on 100% charge outside temperature 85 F. I did replaced tires to Michelin Supremacy4 I notice my range ( New York state) increse from 270 Milles to 320 M.
     

Share This Page