Taking Pre-Orders in Canada

Wow that was fast! They have barely touched North American Soil..... 2019 Kona Electric - 2019 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year

https://northamericancaroftheyear.org/winners-of-the-2019-north-american-car-utility-and-truck-of-the-year-announced/

https://www.thestar.com/autos/2019/01/17/hyundai-wins-big-at-2019-north-american-car-of-the-year-awards.html

 

That's unfortunate. I feel badly for you having to ponder decisions like that.

 

Yup, I'm with you Mauro - most of us are taking a huge leap here spending $62K on a vehicle. Especially when you consider the lack of incentives in Ontario thanks to Dinosaur Doug - and the 3.99% Hyundai financing. I'm still hoping for some form of incentives to come through at the federal level but who knows. I joined a couple of petitions that are pushing for such a thing:

https://www.change.org/p/government-of-canada-federal-incentives-for-canadians-purchasing-new-electric-vehicles-ev

and this one goes straight to the minister of transport in Ottawa:
https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-1891

The way I justify the purchase at this point is the weekly savings on gas ($60-$70) in my case which more than offsets the interest on a competitive SLOC - much better than the 3.99% financing they offer.

Good luck whatever you choose to do!

 

I just signed

 

Here's my ordering timeline:

July 18, placed deposit, told I was 12th at the dealership and approx 300th in Canada, delivery unknown, maybe by end of year.
November 14, email from Hyundai saying vehicle to be built in November and delivered in January.
December 24, mail from Hyundai with Gift Card, saying be patient, no useful information.
December 28, call with dealership, dealer to get one demo in January, customer delivery maybe March.
January 10, visit to dealer, pricing supplied, no VIN number supplied, in port and delivery by end of January or early February.
January 16, call from dealer, Kona EV ready to pick up.
It looks like the November email was the best information I received in the whole process.

Your results may vary!

 

So it takes two days to prep this car for the owner which means that the car was in the dealer on January the 14th. If it were me i think that I would be quite annoyed that they didn't tell me that the car was in there so I could at least go and have a look at it.

 

This beautifully summarizes this entire experience. Totally random.

 

Mauro,
I feel your pain. Might I ask what colour/spec you got? Perhaps one of us could benefit from your loss and possibly have Hyundai give you your deposit back if we take it?

I don’t know if that’s possible - I never paid $1000 deposit through hyundai.

 

To be fair the dealer said the car is in, when do you want to pick it up. If I had said right now he may have said we need some prep time though I'm not sure how long it takes to peel a few stickers off. Charging multiple EV's at the dealership might be a problem, I wonder how prepared they are for that. Another issue I thought about is phantom drain, if an EV is stuck in a lot for a few weeks how do they prevent the battery from getting drained.

 

I asked a question of a knowledgeable Hyundai employee on a FB forum and he says Kona EV Ultimate has "The Kona EV has Active Lane Keep Assist also known as Lane Follow Assist". So that word Active is the defining word to make it different from LKA.

 

That would be awesome news if it’s true. Hopefully there will be some real evidence from a Canadian Kona EV driver to verify this so called “ALKA” !!

Here is a description from Hyundai in Australia:

“LKA can be activated at speeds of 60km/h or above where lane markings on both sides of the vehicle are detected. LKA features two modes (Standard & Active) to help prevent the vehicle from straying from the lane; Standard LKA mode provides steering intervention as the vehicle is about to leave the lane, whilst Active LKA mode provides earlier steering intervention in order to assist the vehicle in staying in the centre of the lane.”

Interesting but the active mode still does not slow or speed up the vehicle... maybe it does when combined with “adaptive” cruise control then it’s the LFA we were hoping for? Confused.

 

I believe it is the LFA that we were hoping for. It would be adaptive cruise control that modifies speed. And I did read that our SCC comes on a quite low speed. So I think we are all set! It is just called Active LKA.

 

This could be good [0]




[0] https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/price-paid-for-kona-electric-in-canada.4352/page-2#post-45300

 

That’s exactly right. When combined with the adaptive cruise control - it’s essentially self driving. Some Tesla owners have even claimed its smoother than Tesla’s Autopilot. The only real difference is that it does not change lanes for you. This is exciting if that word “Active” holds true! I didn’t see any mention of it in the official manual though. We shall see I suppose!

 

This could be amazing! But could also cause a bit of a messy situation with buyers like us who are finalizing our deals now. If incentives come into effect after our purchase is made and we drive off - where does it leave us? The only solution that the feds hopefully come up with would be to account for the purchase on your tax returns, so that for example all purchases of EVs made in 2019 are dealt with and rebates are applied on your return next spring. Lets hope!

follow up... here is the US incentives plan for Ev's - something we should mirror up here:

The Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Tax Credit is the main federal incentive program for electric cars available in the United States. Under this program, the purchase of a new electric vehicle is eligible for a tax credit worth $7,500 as long as it meets the following criteria:

• Purchased after December 31, 2009
• Uses a traction battery (as the vast majority of EVs do)
• Battery has at least 4 kilowatt hours (kWh) of capacity
• Uses an external plug-in source to recharge
• Has a vehicle weight rating of up to 14,000 pounds
• Meets emissions standards

 

I just read the manual again. Boy is this complicated. It appears that there are two different LKA types, TYPE A and TYPE B. Type A has active and standard LKA as well as lane departure warning. If the LKA menu has these 3 options then type A is installed.

It appears that LFA might also be equipped, this appears to be integrated with some form of LKA and would also be buried in the menus. Not sure how it meshes with type A or B LKA.

I guess we will wait and see what system is actually equipped.

 

I wonder if THIS is why we don’t have any in Ontario yet?!

I messaged my dealer today and she said there are 5 sales at this location and they have received no VINs and no delivery dates yet. Yet Quebec and B.C. have received deliveries. Seems odd...

 

I have received my VIN from an Ontario dealer but no firm delivery date... it could be that there were more orders placed in those provinces. I just hope we don't get screwed out of any future incentives just because we made a gamble buying out of the incentives window slammed shut by the Dinosaur regime in Ontario. If anything we should be rewarded for taking a risk and being early adopters!

 

Couldn’t agree more.
The government would have to make it a tax break and not a cash payout as in the past. I don’t have a VIN or delivery yet no one in Burlington does apparently.

 

First post here.

Just picked up my white kona today.
Coquitlam BC.
It is active lka. With adaptive cruise control and alka active the car drives itself.
No passanger power seat adjustment.
Sadly no power folding mirrors either, no option to turn it on that I could find.

I'm happy with my purchase though.
$51,999 plus pdi ect. Manager threw in the $495, some sort of admin fee. 20% off all future accessory purchases.

The power and torque!