Dead Kona EV!

It pays to do the research up front rather than let this catch you out. The metric size is DIN44. The commonly-used North American size is 26R. The difference that I can see is that the terminals are recessed on the metric type, so yes you will have to stretch the ground lead on the 26R.

There may also be the option to use an AGM-style which in theory is better. But in NZ it's more than double the price so I'll stick to the flooded maintenance-free, as per the original Rocket. It doesn't look easy to fit a larger size which would help with the issues owners often see.

But, mine is still chugging away at over 4 years now. Having a battery voltage logger may pay off as I expect to see more elasticity in the voltage excursions day to day as it deteriorates. And if it's not holding 13 volts after a charge I'd suggest an hour on Utility Mode to give it a boost.

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It's official, the old Rocket was dead. They charged the battery over the weekend and it wouldn't recover from the load tester.
The new battery was $135 so with a new AWD in our future I shouldn't need to replace the battery again.
 
My original October 2021 12V battery died in April 2022, and the Freddy dealer ordered a replacement under warranty. After a month, I got fed up with the waiting and needing to boost, so I replaced it with a Costco battery. In June 2022, my new warranty replacement battery arrived, so I pulled the Costco battery out and put back the defective one to get the warranty replacement in. I've kept Mr. Costco on the garage on a periodoc charge anticipating another dead 12V.

With Christmas, I last drove the car Friday, left the car plugged in, and by Tuesday, the 12V was deader than dead.

I will be expecting another warranty battery replacement, as it should be expected to get more than 6 months and 32 days from a 12V that the knowledgable experts at Hyundai chose to supply and install.

Of course, I have to wait till Jan 6, when their service booker returns to work to even speak to someone.... and hopefully they will have hired a replacement EV tech (their only guy left in October) so I dont need to drive an hour away to Saint John to get EV service like I needed to do in November. The Freddy dealer message says that the service folks at Hyundai are not booking new service appointments till at least January 26, so it looks like my Costco battery will be reinstalled soon.....
 
DaveO said:
Of course, I have to wait till Jan 6, when their service booker returns to work to even speak to someone.... and hopefully they will have hired a replacement EV tech (their only guy left in October) so I dont need to drive an hour away to Saint John to get EV service like I needed to do in November. The Freddy dealer message says that the service folks at Hyundai are not booking new service appointments till at least January 26, so it looks like my Costco battery will be reinstalled soon.....
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I'm alarmed at this trend.
The same problem hobbles EV service South 49th.

What good is a warranty if you can't get parts, or qualified service?
 
I created this thread 3 years ago when my car first died and it lead to a lot of lively and useful discussion about 12 volt issues.

My car died today - for the first time in 3 years. I immediately assumed it was the 12 volt given all the education gained from this thread. I bought a portable lithium jumper pack and followed the instructions...no response. Several attempts later I called for a tow.

When they arrived I suggested they give a jump start a try. They used their own lithium pack and within seconds the car fired up. I thanked them and sent them on their way.

Their pack also had a voltmeter built in. It was at 4 volts initially and jumped immediately to 14.1 volts upon start-up.
So my question is: why would their pack work and my (brand new) pack did not?
I feel like I should be returning it if there's a reason for it not working with my car.
 
Wildeyed said:
I created this thread 3 years ago when my car first died and it lead to a lot of lively and useful discussion about 12 volt issues.

My car died today - for the first time in 3 years. I immediately assumed it was the 12 volt given all the education gained from this thread. I bought a portable lithium jumper pack and followed the instructions...no response. Several attempts later I called for a tow.

When they arrived I suggested they give a jump start a try. They used their own lithium pack and within seconds the car fired up. I thanked them and sent them on their way.

Their pack also had a voltmeter built in. It was at 4 volts initially and jumped immediately to 14.1 volts upon start-up.
So my question is: why would their pack work and my (brand new) pack did not?
I feel like I should be returning it if there's a reason for it not working with my car.
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Probably something like this (See number 8) when the 12v is so low the booster can't detect whether you have connected the leads the right way round!

John.

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Anaglypta said:
Probably something like this (See number 8) when the 12v is so low the booster can't detect whether you have connected the leads the right way round!

John.

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Thanks. I followed the instructions carefully and readjusted several times. My charger indicated that if the charge was under 2 volts it might be a problem but it seems it was at 4 volts. FYI It's a 750 amp pack charged to 100%. I'd rather keep it for future use but if there's a reason for it not to work then it doesn't make any sense to spend the money.
*Edit - I didn't try boost mode because the pack recognized the battery and the green light was on - plus the directions kind of scared me off trying with all sorts of warnings about how dangerous it could be.
 
Now that the battery is charged I'm assuming there's no way for me to actually test the (potential) efficacy should it happen again?
 
So, assuming LED 5 was 'on' (what they later refer to instead as a "boost" light) the only thing you could have tried perhaps was to leave it for a minute?
 
Ya. Everything appeared to behave properly. I left it in place for quite some time and for several attempts. Sadly, I think trouble shooting after the fact is a lost cause.
But since I have not determined a cause for the drain in the first place I might yet get another test case! :(
 
Wildeyed said:
Ya. Everything appeared to behave properly. I left it in place for quite some time and for several attempts. Sadly, I think trouble shooting after the fact is a lost cause.
But since I have not determined a cause for the drain in the first place I might yet get another test case! :(
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You have to use the boost mode. I had to do that for my dead battery
 
Did someone mention my name?

After a long period of truce between me and my 12v battery, it's discovered a new trick:

July 2023 Problem.webp
I'm used to seeing the 12v battery die occasionally when the EVSE is plugged in (as at 01:00 July 24). So I just don't leave it plugged in much.

But I never saw Automatic Battery Saver turn into Active Battery Assassin without help from the EVSE (20:30 July 24). And WTF happened after midnight on the 25th?

My last VCULDC update was on April 28, 2022. It brought the VCULDC OS version up to EOSEKNM-NS8-D000, as described in this Hyundai TSB for Service Campaign T6C. Does anyone know of a more recent update?

I wonder if the strange behavior on July 25 means my 12v battery is weak. Is there a way to load test it? Will a cheap load tester with a 100A load work on this battery?
 

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Toolworker said:
... (20:30 July 24)....
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The pattern following that time looks somewhat like what happens with an open or ajar door or perhaps even the hood. The 'ABS' is disabled and there are periodic high loads that seem to match the times when an ABS should start. A bump on each door while the car is sleeping and unawares might reveal something.

The pattern from end of charging is similar to what I see but far longer. I think it's checking cell voltages or perhaps setting up periods of cell balancing. It's a matter of luck as to when the 12V battery gets a 20-min charge cycle. Sometimes one shows up during the BMS maintenance interval in which case the BMS just carries on when it's done. About 3 hours after a traction charge completes is often when I see the lowest 12V battery voltages.

I have noticed a higher discharge rate when the portable EVSE (a 'Ratio' brand, supplied with the Kona) is plugged in and waiting for the in-car timer, noted in the first graph below.

From what I've seen the repeated 'ABS' events at every 1 or 2 hours are due to the car understanding that the 12V battery had been depleted below a set limit prior to the last charge. I'm seeing a lot more now which I can only assume is due to the age and therefore reduced capacity of my battery.

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I don't think any door was ajar, though I can't be 100% sure.

Is the 12v battery bad now? (The definition of "bad" is that the dealer will replace it before the warranty expires in 10 months.)

The periods of load every 2 or 4 hours from around 20:20 took the battery from 12.88v to 12.77v to 12.71v to 12.22v and then to dead (under 7v). Looking at a SOC chart, that should be from 100% SOC to 90% to 85% to 50% to 0%. If the load was the same each time, is it safe to say that the battery is bad?

OTOH the two load periods that went 100% -> 90% -> 85% were at 2 hour intervals and lasted 20 minutes, while 85% -> 50% -> 0% were 4 hours and at least the first one lasted 30 minutes. So it's possible the load was higher in the last two periods.
 
At the moment I'm not seeing any evidence to blame the 12V battery. This is what I would suggest:

1. Check the traction battery cell balance for anything over 0.04 V deviation, preferably at 80% SoC or higher. Significant cell balance deviations may be triggering excessive BMS attention.

2. Assuming you're parked in a home garage, leave all the windows fully down and let the car go to sleep, an hour is enough, leave car unlocked. Switch on your BM2 and monitor the battery voltage in real time (on the first screen). Sneak up on the Kona (without having the key fob) and wiggle the doors one at a time up and down, in and out, by grabbing the inside handle but don't open any. The hatch and hood as well. Watch the dash for signs of a door open or ajar light, and the BM2 for sudden voltage changes. Obviously we're looking for a flaky switch.

3. If practical use the factory portable EVSE for charging and post BM2 graphs over a few days. You could mark them up with periods driving, parked-not-plugged-in, and parked-plugged-in. Post them individually so they're readable on this forum.
 
Its funny to come back to this thread three years later. My first experience with a dead 12v battery was in Canada, parked in the lower level of a parking garage with no hope for a tow out. Talk about panic. Thankfully they were able to jump the car and all was well. I removed the extra "bumpers" on the hatchback (a common fix for hatches not closing all the way), kept a small jump pack in the car, and I've been good ever since.
About a month ago I ran into the problem again. I had the same issue as @Wildeyed with the battery pack not doing anything. I tried my son's more recent battery pack (bigger) with a boost mode and found that worked. I was on my way. But I had to keep jumping it, no matter how long I ran it. I soon discovered the 12v battery had reached EOL. I replaced and I'm good to go again.
One other side effect - my range has improved. I think the draw on my drive battery pack was reducing my range and I've noticed an improvement since.
So if you think your range is dropping, and your 12v battery is three years old, you might want to get it tested.
 
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