Choose Kona over Niro/Soul?

  • Thread starter Thread starter SkookumPete
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My son has a Tesla M3, and I could give you a long list of why the Kona, and probably the e-Niro is better. But just for starters, the M3 has very uncomfortable hard leather seats (makes for a sweaty butt), hard to get into and out of, no CarPlay or AndroidAuto, even his extended range version is only about equal at best to the Kona, paid a fortune for options, tires, roof rack, etc., terrible in snow even with winter tires (RWD), and lots of little mechanical problems and bugs (spent lots of time in the shop), and more. And that center monitor is a huge distraction. When I ride with my son, he can't go 5 min without looking and poking at it.

Only real advantage is that it has more power, but how much do you need. The Kona (and e_Niro) with 291 ft-lbs torque is no slouch either.

The big diff with the Kona and e-Niro is back seat room. So if that is a priority, choose the Niro. For us, I like the extra garage room with the Kona. I don't spend any time in the back row,... haha.
 
WMA said:
My reason for choosing the Kona over similar vehicles based on information in January 2019 in Canada.

#1 - Range
I don't have a garage to charge my EV as I live in a condo with only 3 charging stations so I can't just plug it in everyday when I get home. I wanted the EV with the most range possible so that I only needed to charge once a week. I get 511km / charge on the Kona which was proven by Bjorn in real world testing. The only other EVs close to the 500km range was the E-Niro and Long Range Tesla Model 3 but these were eliminated due to factors below.

#2 - Price
Kona is the cheapest of the 3 EVs I was considering after factor #1. Bjorn estimated that the E-niro was going to be about 10% more expensive than the Kona from the pricing he got for Norway. That was an additional $5K CAD for an extra foot of space in the rear and it didn't have LED headlights. The cheapest Telsa at the time was about $70K. It didn't qualify for the $6K scrap-it rebate and you also had to pay extra tax since the vehicle was over $55K. It was just too expensive for me.

#3 - Availablity
In January 2019 Kona was finally releasing pricing and delivery dates. I was lucky to find a dealer that had one not already claimed by deposits. Kia would not give me any definite pricing or delivery dates. They just gave a vague spring to summer delivery and pricing around $56-59K. I was ready to switch to electric and didn't want to wait till the spring or summer so that left only the Kona.

....but if I was to choose today in July 2019 my choice might be different. In the last 6 months a lot has changed in the EV market. The E-niro has finally arrived and it turns out it is only $3K more than the Kona. Telsa also released their standard range plus for the same price as the E-Niro. With all 3 cars almost the same price the 3K difference to me would not have been a deciding factor. Kona still has the best range of the 3 cars while tesla standard range plus is the lowest range at 400km. Since price and availability are not longer factors I would need a #4 factor to decide and that would be features and technology. Kona and e-Niro have the same software and features so basically it would be if I like tesla's features better. In my opinion Tesla has much better features and technology than Kona or E-niro. The app for Kona is very slow and basic, the infotaiment screen is much smaller than Tesla, self driving in the Kona is pretty good on the highway but doesn't compare to the tech in Tesla's self driving capabilities. Also Kona only has 5 years of free updates and you have to do it manually versus over the air in the Tesla for life. For these reasons I would get the Tesla if I was going to buy an EV today. Of course there are downsides to getting a Telsa as well. 100km less range, you need to buy a $700 adapter to use Non-Telsa chargers, limited service locations, long service times as queues are very long, and poor finish quality as they are rushing workers to push them out.
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For me, it came down to the expiring tax rebate and the US lifetime warranty on the battery of the Kona..
If Tesla would have been still eligible for the $7500 tax credit, I would likely have the mid range Model 3 now. I do not by any means regret going with the Kona.. Awesome car but the Tesla is a awesome car too..
 
I have leather-like seats in my Kona so I think it would be similar to the M3. I think both Kona and M3 have ventilated seats. I use it all the time in the summer otherwise I would get sweaty butt and back. I haven't sat in a M3 for a long drive so can't say if the Kona seats are more comfortable but I have no complaints about the Kona seats. The high seats on the Kona does make it easier to get in/out but if you are taller than 5'10" you have to watch banging your head against the top when getting in.

Haven't tried AndroidAuto or Carplay as I wish it was connected by bluetooth so I could just drop my phone into the charging pad instead of plugging in every time. So this is not a factor for me when choosing a car.

M3 definitely less range than the Kona and cost 20K more to get the same range.

I hear lots of complaints about bug and defects on the M3 and service time...that's usually the biggest complaint about Tesla. As the company is fairly new it will take them time to work out everything and get the infrastructure to service all the vehicles. I'm hoping in the future these will be remedied.

I like the minimalist design and large screen of the M3...people either love it or hate it.

Power doesn't matter to me as most newer EV have plenty of power. I only drive around 60km/h everyday anyways. I rarely even take it on the highway.

Space wise it would be nice to have the little extra room but not for an extra $3K as 99% of the time I'm driving by myself. The folding back seats provide lots of space for larger items. I removed all the foam and covers at the back so there is a lot of extra space. Haven't found anything that couldn't fit in there yet.
 
I like model 3's over the air updates and software automation, right at the moment I don't think they have a rival here. Oddly model 3 does not have ventilated seat, heated steering wheel nor cloth seats as options. While these are not deal killers for me not having service support closer than 1200 km and the low slung sedan thing were.
 
apu said:
I like model 3's over the air updates and software automation, right at the moment I don't think they have a rival here. Oddly model 3 does not have ventilated seat, heated steering wheel nor cloth seats as options. While these are not deal killers for me not having service support closer than 1200 km and the low slung sedan thing were.
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They are not perforated either like the Kona. Kona seats are very comfortable compared to the M3. The over the air updates are for the constant bug fixes, and pay for options, like auto pilot, which gives you ACC.
 
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