2020 Kona

  • Thread starter Thread starter Robbert
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Wildeyed said:
If my dealership didn't have the car fully charged when I picked it up I would have serious reservations about their sloppy service.
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Kind of similar to picking up an ICE car with 1/2 tank of gas. :) I would have some serious doubts about that dealership too.

Happy to say my Kona was fully charged when I picked it up. I charge it to 90% now. Kind of as a compromise between the 80% people seem to say you should do, and the 100% people say you shouldn't... I usually don't need the extra 25 miles, and my charging pattern has been charge at home to 90%, drive to work (50 miles), charge about 40 miles on 120V, drive home (50 miles), drive to work (50 miles), charge 40 miles on 120V, drive home and charge to 90%. Once the office puts in a 240V charger, I'll probably stop charging at home, unless it's on the weekends. But currently 120V is all I can get...
 
I am in Seattle. Dealer informed me that I cannot purchase the EV in Washington State "for the next two years". He said they're available for purchase in California or Oregon, if I can prove at least one year of residency. My son lives in California so I could potentially have him purchase the car then I could buy it from him. Or could I? Anyone know more about this? I'm actually waiting for the 2020.
 
MarshaH said:
I am in Seattle. Dealer informed me that I cannot purchase the EV in Washington State "for the next two years". He said they're available for purchase in California or Oregon, if I can prove at least one year of residency. My son lives in California so I could potentially have him purchase the car then I could buy it from him. Or could I? Anyone know more about this? I'm actually waiting for the 2020.
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I don't know why the one year residency thing. Maybe to be eligible for some CA tax benefit?

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ericy said:
I don't know why the one year residency thing. Maybe to be eligible for some CA tax benefit?

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That is weird -- here in NH if I hadn't found a dealer that imported them, I could go out and buy one in Massachusetts, but I would have to do the registration paperwork myself in NH (bigger pain). Certainly no residency requirements, and definitely fairly common for all kinds of vehicles.
 
I have bought a couple of cars from Maryland dealers, and they handled the paperwork for Virginia registration. The Kona is one such car.

I bought a car from a North Carolina dealer - they couldn't do the VA paperwork, so I had to do it myself. Really just taking a pile of papers to DMV and writing a big check (sales tax). Yeah, a nuisance, but the DMV office is close to my work office.


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First post by me. It is now Nov. 29th and the 2020s are arriving. For 2019 the battery warming system is standard on the Limited and Ultimate,but NA on the SEL. (BTW, the new Ultimates have a 10.5 screen and the stop/go cruise control system.) I have been calling around to dealerships to learn if the battery warming system can be added to a 2019 (as a repair or aftermarket addition) but I have not gotten an answer. They want a VIN number to research this. The actual performance in cold cold cold country where I live is still hard to get a read on. One source https://ev-database.org/car/1126/Hyundai-Kona-Electric-64-kWh reports that at -10C (14F) the range at highway speeds is 173 miles. Assume an 80 percent charge and you are down to 138 while driving inter-city, and that range further assumed a heater was in use (according to the fine print on the ev-database chart) That introduces some measure of range anxiety that I thought I was past. So now, of course, I need to trade off the unlimited warranty on the 2019 (very desirable) vs. the battery warmer on the 2020 (also desirable) Sigh.... Anyway, if anyone knows if an aftermarket battery warmer might be available (a dealer in CA swore it was...probably salesman speak though) let me know and save me the indignity of having a 2019 trucked back to my Wisc. home, or has other calming words to help me stop worrying about the winter performance, fire back a reply... Thanks!!
 
I doubt that a battery warmer is available as aftermarket or that one could be retrofitted only because you would need software access to control the battery warmer based on a variety of variables and sensors. In the end the battery warmer really is only helpful with cold weather charging, particularly DC charging. It won't have a significant effect on range, that is influenced more by increased cold air resistance,rolling tire resistance in snow, rain, cabin heat etc.
 
If they're now offering the heater as a "high end feature", they clearly have
no idea what it's really for. It has fallen victim to marketing BS.

_H*
 
I'm struggling with the same issue as Tom B. I'm thinking of buying a 2019 specifically to make sure I get the lifetime battery warranty (even though no one at hyundai can really give any specifics on what that covers). Does it cover reduction in holding a charge or just complete failure?
Anyway, now I see that the 2020 will have a battery warmer! I live in Pittsburgh so that would be good since I don't have a garage.
I'll just have a level 2 charger at home and possibly level three at work.
Any opinions on which would be preferable would be most welcome!
Thanks!
 
Cara said:
I'm struggling with the same issue as Tom B. I'm thinking of buying a 2019 specifically to make sure I get the lifetime battery warranty (even though no one at hyundai can really give any specifics on what that covers). Does it cover reduction in holding a charge or just complete failure?
Anyway, now I see that the 2020 will have a battery warmer! I live in Pittsburgh so that would be good since I don't have a garage.
I'll just have a level 2 charger at home and possibly level three at work.
Any opinions on which would be preferable would be most welcome!
Thanks!
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My understanding is that the battery warmer is only relevant if you are using DCFC. For level 2 charging, it is irrelevant.
 
ericy said:
My understanding is that the battery warmer is only relevant if you are using DCFC. For level 2 charging, it is irrelevant.
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I have a 2018 Nissan Leaf with a battery warmer. It kicks on when the temp is below -25C. Which here in Ottawa it can easily get to overnight. So another reason for the warmer is preventing the battery from freezing altogether in addition to efficiency.

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Aaron_Menchions said:
I have a 2018 Nissan Leaf with a battery warmer. It kicks on when the temp is below -25C. Which here in Ottawa it can easily get to overnight. So another reason for the warmer is preventing the battery from freezing altogether in addition to efficiency.

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I don't think the battery would freeze altogether, the main issue is again charging including regenerative charging . At very cold temperatures, lithium batteries for the most part have no problem giving up electrons its putting them back that tends to mess them up.
 
apu said:
I don't think the battery would freeze altogether, the main issue is again charging including regenerative charging . At very cold temperatures, lithium batteries for the most part have no problem giving up electrons its putting them back that tends to mess them up.
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This is in the manual:

The Li-ion battery warmer helps to prevent
the Li-ion battery from freezing and helps
to prevent significant reductions in the Li-
ion battery output when the temperature
is cold. The Li-ion battery warmer auto-
matically turns on when the Li-ion battery
temperature is approximately -1°F (-17°C) or
colder.

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Thanks all the the very useful info! I think I am going to wait for the 2020. Sorry not to have the lifetime warranty but I think the battery warmer will be a good feature to have.
 
2020 Kona EV will have a battery warranty of 10 yrs /100k miles vs 2019 Unlimited.
2020 Kona EV will have a battery warmer which the 2019 does not.
The battery degradation and winter range loss must be mitigated by the battery warmer system in the 2020 model which led to reducing the warranty in the new model.
Buying the 2019 model should cover degradation over time as it is unlimited warranty, but not sure what will be the range in winter driving
 
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