Hi, I just joined the forum as I was searching for this particular error while I was sat in the car wondering what the hell was wrong with it.
So a bit of background... after a 10 month wait since ordering the car it finally turned up today. After all the usual form filling, and general discomfort of being in a dealership for longer than 10 minutes we drove away in our brand new Kona Ultimate and left behind my perfect 2016 Nissan X-Trail Tekna that we part exchanged.
It was that uneasy excited driving away in a new car feeling, enjoying the torque-y sharp drive of the Kona, but a bit overwhelmed by all the flashy bits in my eyeline... so after about 2 miles we were sat at a set of traffic lights at a busy junction (or intersection for our post-colonial friends ) when more things started flashing at me in the form of a big orange circle with the 'Check Electric Vehicle System' error.
So there's me wondering, OMG what have I done the car wont go... and I can't hear the engine! ( - brain still in ICE mode). I checked the 'gear' selector, and it would only let me select Neutral or Park... I tried restarting a few times, to no effect... by this time a major queue of cars had formed behind me and the horns started honking!!
Luckily, some kind fella coming the opposite direction saw the predicament, pulled alongside, and asked if I needed a push... not sure if he was trolling me, I said I did. He said he would park up and come help... then drove off, by this time I was mortified, so embarrassed and my wife was in tears (we'd already had a stressful day thanks to the dealership, but that's another story). But true to his word the guy came back, and with the aid of the guy in the car behind pushed us clear of the junction.
Can you imagine the embarrasment and same of having to be unceremoniously pushed out of the way by complete strangers in what is clearly a brand-new car. The guy just laughed and shook his head when I told him I'd just collected the car... probably putting him off any thoughts of getting an EV in the future.
Anyway, we called the dealership, who were in disbelief but sent the guy who dealt with us out to where we were stranded... though not sure what the plan was as he's just a salesman. So, while we were waiting, I set about doing the usual things, turning off and on again (it works with computers and it's basically a computer on wheels, so it was worth a try). After about 30 minutes of trying and without rhyme nor reason it chimed at me and it said, 'Ready to Drive'. Just in time for the dealership guy to turn up.
The salesman guy said he had a look on YouTube and saw a couple of vids that suggested the positive terminal on the 12V battery might be loose. We checked, and it wasn't! As the car was working, I suggested we me move to a more appropriate location and during the short drive the error never came back. However the salesman wasn't happy with us driving away now the car was working again as he was worried it might happen again. He wanted to take it back and have the car checked over, so he suggested we take his car, which we did.
So, day one we have a used Hyundai Bayon sat on the drive which was not what I was expecting... but I can say, the 1 litre mild hybrid engine on that thing is a pokey little beast, surprised me how well it drove. After reading this thread, I'm now concerned I'm not going to see the car for weeks and we're supposed to be going on holiday up to Scotland next week, so God knows what's going to happen now!? It's certainly not what you expect when you collect a brand new almost £40K car!! I'm now wondering if a few thousand extra on a Tesla would have been the better option... but the question is do I have the record for the shortest time to having a kaput Kona?
Tl;Dr
I have the same problem 2 miles after collecting the car brand-new from the dealership - is that a record?
