PuffDaddy
New Member
Been a reader for a while (hate the term lurker...such a creepy description), and have *really* appreciated (most) of the posts, wisdom and experiences others have shared, and figured it was time I contribute something.
First some background:
- Live in the US and purchased a 2019 Kona Electric Limited in April 2019; build date is December 22, 2018.
- This is my first (all) electric vehicle; had a 2007 Civic Hybrid, but in my opinion that doesn't count.
- This is my second Hyundai; had 2013 Elantra GT manual.
Equipment owned related to the Kona:
- Juicebox Pro 40 (with Wifi) connected to a 50 amp circuit to charge the Kona at home, but occasionally will DC fast charge at EA, ChargePoint, EVGo, SemaConnect, etc.
- Tesla to J1772 converter cable for charging at Tesla Destination (AC/level-2) charging locations if ever I'm in a situation where this is the only available option.
- EGO inverter with two (2) 7.5 amp and two (2) 5.0 amp batteries.
- SeaSucker Monkey Bars for carrying around Kayaks since my Kona does not have the ability to add rails without drilling into the roof.
- Saris Bones 3-bike bike rack.
- 3DMaxpider all-weather floor mats.
Possible future purchase:
- Battery powered electric blanket (Amazon has one for $250) so I don't have to run the heat as much during the winter to preserve battery power on longer trips.
Equipment I do *not* own:
- ODB2
- TorquePro App
My experiences:
- Using the Hyundai supplied granny charger, the EGO, with the batteries I own, adds 4-miles of range after draining the EGO batteries completely in 47-minutes.
- I've used the Tesla to J1772 converter cable twice to validate that it works...it does.
- Kayaks are on order, so the SeaSuckers Monkey Bars haven't been used to carry anything, but I have mounted the Monkey Bars and driven around at 70+ MPH (112+ KPH) without issue, other then you can definitely hear wind noise. In addition to ordering Kayaks, I have the Thule Compass on order as well. I expect my first test of the Monkey Bars with the Kayaks and Thule Compass will be a slow trip around my neighborhood roads until I gain confidence that the suction works as expected/desired.
- The Saris bike rack was purchased the same day as the Kona (i.e. well before purchasing the Monkey Bars). I have both a Trek Farley fat bike and a Motobecane road bike (complete opposite bikes). The Saris caries both bikes without issue and it hasn't dented the Kona's hatch or damaged the roof spoiler.
- The best description of (obnoxious) motor noise I've heard on this forum is playing cards in the spoke of a bike's wheels. I think my Kona makes this noise, but I'm also at an age where certain frequencies are not as noticeable to me as they would have been 20+ years ago, so I haven't pursued this with the dealer.
- There is much (entertaining) debate on this forum about regularly charging to 80% vs 100%. I have taken Apple's lead and what they've done with my old iPhone to preserve battery life/health, and only charge to 80% unless I'm going on a longer trip where a full charge is needed. But do keep the debate going - it is interesting, though don't expect me to join in.
- I set my regen level to zero (0); I like using the paddles to stop as it gives me, in a very small way, a more connected experience with the Kona like I had with my Elantra GT manual.
Recent experiences:
- In May (2020) I had the first BMS update applied; no issues, but I really appreciate the feature enhancement where the brake lights stay on after holding in the left paddle until the vehicle stops and it remains lite after releasing the paddle after stop.
- Yesterday (20201109) the second BMS (196) was applied; again no issues. However, though I typically only charge to 80%, last night I charged from 24% to 90% to see what would happen. Notable changes are as follows:
--> Previous to the 196 update, the Kona (on it's internal display) reported between 7.6 and 7.8kWh charging rate using the JuiceBox Pro 40; this was consistent all the way to 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% and 100%.
--> After the 196 update, charging was steady at 8.0kWh until 80%. Once it reached 80%, for approximately 10-minutes, it throttled down to 1.0kWh; it never went to zero (0) or stopped charging (the JuiceBox reported the same 1.0kWh charging rate). After 10-minutes, charging returned to 8.0kWh until it reached 90%; this was expected since the Kona was set to stop charging at 90%.
One more thing on the 196 update, I was told it would take about 45-minutes to apply the update. The time was pretty much spot on, though I thought it should've take 2-minutes at most; go get the fire extinguish, hand the fire extinguisher to the customer, Kona Electric patched.
Thing I would like to do if I had the nerve and step-by-step instructions:
Hobbit wrote a while back about implementing a switch that notified tailgaters (by quickly illuminating all rear lights) that they are dangerously close. Sadly, I consider myself a hardware guy (in the IT world), but something about rewiring my vehicle intimidates the hell out of me.
Finally, as stated at the start of this post, I really appreciate what's been shared here over the past year+, and as they say in the Reddit world, "AMA."
PuffDaddy
First some background:
- Live in the US and purchased a 2019 Kona Electric Limited in April 2019; build date is December 22, 2018.
- This is my first (all) electric vehicle; had a 2007 Civic Hybrid, but in my opinion that doesn't count.
- This is my second Hyundai; had 2013 Elantra GT manual.
Equipment owned related to the Kona:
- Juicebox Pro 40 (with Wifi) connected to a 50 amp circuit to charge the Kona at home, but occasionally will DC fast charge at EA, ChargePoint, EVGo, SemaConnect, etc.
- Tesla to J1772 converter cable for charging at Tesla Destination (AC/level-2) charging locations if ever I'm in a situation where this is the only available option.
- EGO inverter with two (2) 7.5 amp and two (2) 5.0 amp batteries.
- SeaSucker Monkey Bars for carrying around Kayaks since my Kona does not have the ability to add rails without drilling into the roof.
- Saris Bones 3-bike bike rack.
- 3DMaxpider all-weather floor mats.
Possible future purchase:
- Battery powered electric blanket (Amazon has one for $250) so I don't have to run the heat as much during the winter to preserve battery power on longer trips.
Equipment I do *not* own:
- ODB2
- TorquePro App
My experiences:
- Using the Hyundai supplied granny charger, the EGO, with the batteries I own, adds 4-miles of range after draining the EGO batteries completely in 47-minutes.
- I've used the Tesla to J1772 converter cable twice to validate that it works...it does.
- Kayaks are on order, so the SeaSuckers Monkey Bars haven't been used to carry anything, but I have mounted the Monkey Bars and driven around at 70+ MPH (112+ KPH) without issue, other then you can definitely hear wind noise. In addition to ordering Kayaks, I have the Thule Compass on order as well. I expect my first test of the Monkey Bars with the Kayaks and Thule Compass will be a slow trip around my neighborhood roads until I gain confidence that the suction works as expected/desired.
- The Saris bike rack was purchased the same day as the Kona (i.e. well before purchasing the Monkey Bars). I have both a Trek Farley fat bike and a Motobecane road bike (complete opposite bikes). The Saris caries both bikes without issue and it hasn't dented the Kona's hatch or damaged the roof spoiler.
- The best description of (obnoxious) motor noise I've heard on this forum is playing cards in the spoke of a bike's wheels. I think my Kona makes this noise, but I'm also at an age where certain frequencies are not as noticeable to me as they would have been 20+ years ago, so I haven't pursued this with the dealer.
- There is much (entertaining) debate on this forum about regularly charging to 80% vs 100%. I have taken Apple's lead and what they've done with my old iPhone to preserve battery life/health, and only charge to 80% unless I'm going on a longer trip where a full charge is needed. But do keep the debate going - it is interesting, though don't expect me to join in.
- I set my regen level to zero (0); I like using the paddles to stop as it gives me, in a very small way, a more connected experience with the Kona like I had with my Elantra GT manual.
Recent experiences:
- In May (2020) I had the first BMS update applied; no issues, but I really appreciate the feature enhancement where the brake lights stay on after holding in the left paddle until the vehicle stops and it remains lite after releasing the paddle after stop.
- Yesterday (20201109) the second BMS (196) was applied; again no issues. However, though I typically only charge to 80%, last night I charged from 24% to 90% to see what would happen. Notable changes are as follows:
--> Previous to the 196 update, the Kona (on it's internal display) reported between 7.6 and 7.8kWh charging rate using the JuiceBox Pro 40; this was consistent all the way to 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% and 100%.
--> After the 196 update, charging was steady at 8.0kWh until 80%. Once it reached 80%, for approximately 10-minutes, it throttled down to 1.0kWh; it never went to zero (0) or stopped charging (the JuiceBox reported the same 1.0kWh charging rate). After 10-minutes, charging returned to 8.0kWh until it reached 90%; this was expected since the Kona was set to stop charging at 90%.
One more thing on the 196 update, I was told it would take about 45-minutes to apply the update. The time was pretty much spot on, though I thought it should've take 2-minutes at most; go get the fire extinguish, hand the fire extinguisher to the customer, Kona Electric patched.
Thing I would like to do if I had the nerve and step-by-step instructions:
Hobbit wrote a while back about implementing a switch that notified tailgaters (by quickly illuminating all rear lights) that they are dangerously close. Sadly, I consider myself a hardware guy (in the IT world), but something about rewiring my vehicle intimidates the hell out of me.
Finally, as stated at the start of this post, I really appreciate what's been shared here over the past year+, and as they say in the Reddit world, "AMA."
PuffDaddy
