High-Pitched Motor Noise

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PNTABryan said:
Any updates from anyone? Took my SEL to my local dealer (southeast Massachusetts USA) for the noise along with a tapping noise from the rear of the car and the steering wheel not centered. Said it was "characteristic of the electric motor". I test drove the ultimate they had on their lot and it had the same noise. That dealer said they fixed the tapping noise by putting the seats up (it didn't) and the steering wheel is as centered as it can be (it isn't) so made an appointment with the dealership I bought it from on Saturday to see if they can do more than the absolutely nothing that my local dealer did.

I'll be on vacation for a few weeks so will offer them to keep it til I'm back, will update this thread after I get done there Saturday. I'm with everyone else, this noise is embarrassing. Sounds like an 80s beater truck and it's a 2019!
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The tapping noise and the off center steering are new problems not yet communicated on this forum. Clicking and brake clunking were traced to caliper movement and were resolved by changing to a thicker pad and clips or by clips alone. There are always more dealers if you have doubts or need a second opinion. Keep us informed.
 
Brennan Raposo said:
Hey Sean,
I have had this EXACT issue for about 3 weeks and have posted it in a few topics here in this forum. It feels SO good to finally have someone who can describe it perfectly. I have tried so hard to describe the issue in both the forum and to the dealer without much luck.

I had an appointment last Thursday for this issue. They initially told me it was VESS - I said no, I know what the VESS sound is and it's not that.
So we drove along side a wall in the parking lot and you could hear it perfectly. The head mechanic who was driving with me at the time said this was "normal" and that the reason behind it is there is a spacer that essentially raises the brake pads ever so slightly off the rotors and that there is still some contact being made especially with humidity/rain. He mentioned that this question was brought up during the initial training that the mechanics underwent and this is how Hyundai choose to engineer this particular component of the brakes. I argued with him saying that there is NO way that that sounds is "normal" under any circumstances. I even mentioned that I get looks from pedestrians when I'm driving on quiet streets. It sound like a bearing or brake sequel from an 1980's vehicle that has been terribly maintained. He then said that it's "normal" in almost all cars and that the sound of the engine usually masks it. I told him again that this is false because I have several friends with Tesla's ranging in are from 0-6+ years old and not only do then not have any VESS, but then are DEAD silent otherwise.

With the good weather upon us here in Canada. It's EXTREMELY audible and very annoying when the windows are down and cruising at low speeds. For me, the issue persists past about 45/50 km/h but then comes back in full force during regen or low-speed driving.

Like you mentioned, I even attempted to suction-cup my GoPro to the side of my car pointing at the front wheels in hopes of capturing the sound. I think it's just too high-pitched for microphones to detect. The video came back with only VESS noise and no other noticeable sounds at all.

I don't know what else to do as the dealership has written it off as "normal", but I think I'm going to write a letter to Hyundai to advise them of this.
I also believe that it has to do with when parts begin to break in. I have about 8000 km on my vehicle to date. I think more people are going to be noticing this as they start to ramp up their mileage. Might I ask what sort of mileage you're at?
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As someone who works in in the audio-video, I can say that cameras can often record higher frequencies than humans can hear (most people can hear about 20-16,000hz, while some people hear up to 20,000hz), but it's cheap speakers and headphones that make it seem like it's not being recorded. Often times, if you play that audio through a good quality set of speakers, you'll hear it loud and clear :).
 
SkookumPete said:
In a few years, as EVs grow rapidly in numbers, we're going to have a new urban cacophony. The Kona at least has a mild reverse alarm but the other day I heard a Leaf with an imperious and grating beep. My worst nightmare is coming true as parking lots are now filling with beepers as well as VESS, along with those cars that really don't need to honk when locked.

Eventually the pendulum will swing back, one hopes, and we will reject unnecessary noise.
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When I am walking in a parking lot, I'm looking for reverse lights, not listening for a sound. When I cross a road, sure, I listen for an approaching car, but I look both ways to be sure. Definitely not rocket science, but I do understand the need for VESS for some people ;)
 
robxb said:
When I am walking in a parking lot, I'm looking for reverse lights, not listening for a sound. When I cross a road, sure, I listen for an approaching car, but I look both ways to be sure. Definitely not rocket science, but I do understand the need for VESS for some people ;)
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Classic example of why the radar sensors supersede the VESS sound (which is very quite form a pedestrian point of view) :
https://insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/things-i-dont-like.5690/page-2#post-62569
 
victor_2019 said:
when you say that you don't hear it on some days and you hear it on others:

are you always driving in exactly the same conditions?

for me to hear the noise, the windows need to be open (I don't hear anything with windows closed) and the noise needs to be reflected back, which means I need to be driving next to parked cars. If I'm not directly next to parked cars, I won't hear it, because what comes back reflected from houses on the road is too low for me to hear. (but perhaps someone with better hearing could still hear it)

and I'f I'm not on city streets next to parked cars, but instead I'm in a more open space, I won't really hear much.

and the sound travel does depend on actual atmospheric and environment conditions.

we live close to an airport and most of the time we hear nothing at all, but on some clear summer nights we hear the noise of the engines during taxying and take-off very very clearly, the difference is quite startling between not hearing anything and suddenly hearing a jet engine spool up as if you were right at the airport. the way the sound travels and how far it travels depends on wind, temperature etc.

https://www.abdengineering.com/blog/weather-affects-noise-study/

whether these conditions are enough to change the sound of the engine in the car, I can't say...
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I wouldn't think the weather would affect those noises in the same way.. When it's humid, you hear the airport (or in my case, trains that are far away) because the air is more dense, and sound travels further the denser things are (imagine putting your ear on a train rail and hearing a train 3km down the track when you can't hear it otherwise). For it to affect the Kona in that way would seem unusual, as the sound isn't travelling a great distance. Humidity and heat could however have other expansive effects.
 
I heard a VESS yesterday while walking in town and knew immediately that it was a Kona, only the second time in 8 months that I've seen one drive by. It's certainly louder outside the car.
 
MGrognon said:
Adding another YouTube link of a guy (French again) that taped a cell phone on top of the protective plate in the "motor area" under the hood. He then drives around and does various things (ride under 30 kmh in residential area, floor the Kona from 0-90 kmh in sport mode, brake with only Regen paddle, etc)...

Let's say that you can't miss the hissing sound on this one! Has me grinding my teeth listening with headset on.
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I definitely heard it in other recordings and videos, but in this one, I find it hard to pin-point due to the wind noise and distortion...sounds like the audio is clipping in parts. Would need to have a wind-sock on a microphone and lower the level it's recording at to get a really clean recording, I would think.
 
Heard back from original dealer in MA, tech said he and another person heard the exact sound I complained about (during acceleration or Regen, not coasting, not vess, sounds like bad brakes/hissing) and that one car on their lot made the same sound but one did NOT. However according to them the sound is "normal" which we just proved is not.

Where do I go from here? Has anyone had success talking to Hyundai directly? I sent a message through the my Hyundai site and they said to contact my local dealer.

Thanks
 
XtsKonaTrooper said:
What was your production date RP?
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Dec 27, 2018. Apparently, the car sat in a pre-sold state for a while and was hidden away in a back lot. But when the fed subsidy effective date was announced, old inventory got used up pretty quick. So when I came prepared to buy, they asked him to s*** or get off the pot. He got off the pot, but the salesperson told me he switched his order to the lower priced Preferred trim. So not sure if he ever got his Kona EV or not. There were no other Kona EVs on their lot when I came to buy, so I actually consider myself lucky to get this one.

Anyway, my Kona only had 6 kms on it, and apparently I was the first to test drive it, after they brought it to the dealership store. I had to wait a few days (from the date of the deal and May 1), and of course asked them not to let anyone drive it, or even sit in it during that time. They had it nicely cleaned up and shiny, though, so couldn't find anything to complain about when I inspected it prior to handing over my money.
 
PNTABryan said:
One of the same model car on their lot doesn't make the noise. Some people in the forum report they don't hear the noise. No other car for sale in the world makes this noise lol. It is abnormal.
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Not to mention the Hyundai engineer Brennan Raposo dealt with, who said it definitely shouldn't be making that sound, who wants to swap out the reduction gear box.
 
Yeah mine was in early December.
I got lucky too...cuz it was a demo and had to almost beg to pry it from them.

R P said:
Dec 27, 2018. Apparently, the car sat in a pre-sold state for a while and was hidden away in a back lot. But when the fed subsidy effective date was announced, old inventory got used up pretty quick. So when I came prepared to buy, they asked him to s*** or get off the pot. He got off the pot, but the salesperson told me he switched his order to the lower priced Preferred trim. So not sure if he ever got his Kona EV or not. There were no other Kona EVs on their lot when I came to buy, so I actually consider myself lucky to get this one.

Anyway, my Kona only had 6 kms on it, and apparently I was the first to test drive it, after they brought it to the dealership store. I had to wait a few days (from the date of the deal and May 1), and of course asked them not to let anyone drive it, or even sit in it during that time. They had it nicely cleaned up and shiny, though, so couldn't find anything to complain about when I inspected it prior to handing over my money.
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robxb said:
Not to mention the Hyundai engineer Brennan Raposo dealt with, who said it definitely shouldn't be making that sound, who wants to swap out the reduction gear box.
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a reduction gear swap will not change a hissing that is caused by harmonic current vibrations in the motor.


People in this thread can't even seem to all agree on the noise, and some are mixing in other mechanical noise complaints because it comes from somewhere under the hood.

And Brennan Raposo might be describing something else entirely because he claims the sound is getting worse with the age of the car, with temperature (none of which would change if it's the harmonic hiss) and when he listened to the MP3 recording of the hiss, he said that's not the sound, his sounds worse. so he might as well have an actual mechanical problem.
 
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victor_2019 said:
a reduction gear swap will not change a hissing that is caused by harmonic current vibrations in the motor.


People in this thread can't even seem to all agree on the noise, and some are mixing in other mechanical noise complaints because it comes from somewhere under the hood.

And Brennan Raposo might be describing something else entirely because he claims the sound is getting worse with the age of the car, with temperature (none of which would change if it's the harmonic hiss) and when he listened to the MP3 recording of the hiss, he said that's not the sound, his sounds worse. so he might as well have an actual mechanical problem.
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You might as well just start yelling "I'm right and you're all wrong". I understand your point about harmonics; truly, I do. However, I have read through every post in this thread, and considering some Konas are making the noise while others are not, that would make it seem like perhaps there's something in the design that is flawed. Could be something as simple as a mould that's slightly off, or a bolt that's not quite at the right lb-ft of torque that is causing the issue. If they were ALL driving off the lot with that harmonic sound, then yeah, that could be construed as "normal", but since some are only getting the sound at a later date while others are not, at various levels, that could be seen as something that should not be happening. If people aren't happy with their purchase, stop trying to silence them and tell them they are wrong. If enough people are unhappy with something, that's cause for change to happen.
 
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