Hi there.
We live in Alberta and got a Kona EV in the summer. We are having a bit of a steep learning curve about winter use! First a story, then question
So we are having a lovely winter so far with temperatures at -25c or lower at the moment. I took the Kona out for a 210km round trip (90% charged) and it seems it didn't have the juice to get me home and died 7km from home (the agony). I left it at the side of the road with 5% battery left but because of the cold (-30c), car would not move. Called a tow truck at 2pm but because of this delightful weather, it seems they are a tad busy. At 9pm, still no tow truck and not looking hopeful for the night. Bluelink was then saying battery was at 0% and then after a bit, bluelink wouldn't work, so i conjured up a rescue mission with a 10kw generator and our level 2 charger.
When we got to the car (only a few minutes from home), it was completely dead... nothing. We were able to physically get into the car but no life in the old girl. We fired up the genny and plugged her in to the level 2 charger to see if we could get any juice into her. Sat there for a bit to see what happened and doesnt seem to have done much. There was no green charging light around the bezel of the charging port, although the charger was indicating that it was charging up. I decided to give the 12v battery a jump start with a booster pack and this bought the kona to life. Success! interior lights came on, green charging light came on, bluelink started working. Unfortunately, as soon as the booster pack stopped (1 minute), the kona went dead again.
So we persevered and kept charging the dead kona for a couple more hours to see if it actually was charging, jumped the 12V battery but main battery was reading 0% so i guess mission fail. This was in -34c by the time we decided to call it a night. Everyone is safe, just a bit tired.
Now waiting for the tow truck to finally get to it and get it home.
Question:
I'm assuming the 12v battery is needed to be working in order to charge the main battery? Any advice on how to rig the kona up when it gets home? I'm thinking just have jumper leads between kona and my truck (on the 12v battery) whilst the main battery is plugged into the wall.
Any other sage advice is appreciated.
Hi Kong, we are having the same issues as you and any further updates from Hyundai Canada? Our 12v battery died being only 2 years old and our kid was stuck in the car until we were able to to unlock the doors with the emergency key since our Kona EV had no power. We had to pay a new one since Hyundai Canada only guarantees it for 2 years and we were a couple of months over. We had some 12v battery issues the year before and they failed to replace it since they said it was ok from their tests. We heard from another Kona EV owner that when the regenerative break system fails, it doesn't charge the 12v battery anymore which causes it damage/drain. We are located like you in Canada and our Winters get cold. With our new battery replacement for the recall R0183, we also noticed a significant range reduction up to 40% as we get around 285 km now. We had to fight to get our $250 for all the inconveniences since Hyundai Canada reduced our range by 80% remotely without our knowledge/permission. Our dealership can't help us and apparently they opened a case with Hyundai Canada but they haven't got back to us yet since they are assuming that our family or other Hyundai Canada owners will forget. They seem to be coordinating their efforts together to Delay, Deny and Deflect to assume their responsibilities from all these Kona EV lemons since we are getting the same error messages. We took photos of all the Kona EV error issues and from their diagnostics, they couldn't find anything while the proof shows the contrary. Transport Canada was no help to help/protect Canadian citizens and we would be interested to start an action like they did on South Korea if other Kona EV owners join us in solidarity!