If I Could Change One Thing

[Clamps]

OK, sorry if I sounded like I was coming on too strong and incorrectly assumed your intent. You are correct and smart to look deep at all aspects. In the end, you need to decide what you want and is best for you. I am surprised at the availability of the Kona EV down there, though. Opposite up here.

No worries, it's hard having discussions sometimes on forums, context gets lost really easy and my little avatar looks really cranky and aggressive so that sure doesn't help. And in return I apologize if anything I wrote came across aggressive, it was never my intent. I'm really an EV enthusiast for so many reasons it's hard to list. I've puttered around in my Electric Smart and even with it's limited range and abilities I would take it over any petrol vehicle.

I've got a big long thread in the General section about my EV buying choice and it is between the Model 3 and Kona (and sometimes the Bolt, I love that car). I'm certainly at a crossroads and don't know what to do but soon time will dictate a decision... or my wife!

 

[Esprit1st]

Since the topic of the thread title is open ended ...

What I'd like to see MUCH more over increased charging speed is an improved inboard navigation system.

I'd like to see more current maps and much more than that I'd like to see a better interface for searching POIs and route planning.

I'd like to see a map with the suggested POIs position instead of these weird arrows that I never know if they are in relation to the cars current heading (which might have changed since the calculation) or north.

It's confusing at best if not completely useless.

I think it got better with the last update, ex. I love the switch to route overview when stopped for 15 seconds, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

 

[Clamps]

This is interesting. For someone like me who typically uses google maps how different is the inboard nav?

 

[R P]

I'd like to see more current maps and much more than that I'd like to see a better interface for searching POIs and route planning.

I agree, real time navigation while driving is very poor. It doesn't understand my voice commands very well. My Subaru is much better at that. But I just use Android Auto (Waze) when I need that, so not a big issue with me.

 

[Esprit1st]

Interestingly I never had any issues with the voice commands. Those always worked fine.

I use Google maps as well as the inboard. I tend to use Google maps if I really need it because the turn instructions of Google maps are much better with lane assist as well as graphical representation.

The biggest thing is that google maps shows you a map with all the suggested points you were searching for, like fast food restaurants, chargers, or just the destination. That way you can confirm that it's in the area where you think it is and the route will make sense (at least more or less).

The built-in nav doesn't do that. It shows you a text list of suggested destinations and a distance and direction. That approach only works if you're on a longer journey so you don't drive 300 miles in the wrong direction.

But if you're just searching for your favorite fast food restaurant (etc) and you get 10 suggestions that are 2-8 miles in various directions from your current position, that way of displaying the info is completely useless.

The worst thing is that the direction is shown as an arrow. I don't know if that arrow is in relation to North, or my cars current heading.

If it's the heading, which I suspect it is, it's completely useless because while I'm driving I don't know when that heading applied. Even worse, what if I just did a turn at a signal. Is the arrow now pointing in relation to my old heading, because the arrow doesn't change. It's super confusing!

 

[R P]

Interestingly I never had any issues with the voice commands. Those always worked fine.

I use Google maps as well as the inboard. I tend to use Google maps if I really need it because the turn instructions of Google maps are much better with lane assist as well as graphical representation.

The biggest thing is that google maps shows you a map with all the suggested points you were searching for, like fast food restaurants, chargers, or just the destination. That way you can confirm that it's in the area where you think it is and the route will make sense (at least more or less).

The built-in nav doesn't do that. It shows you a text list of suggested destinations and a distance and direction. That approach only works if you're on a longer journey so you don't drive 300 miles in the wrong direction.

But if you're just searching for your favorite fast food restaurant (etc) and you get 10 suggestions that are 2-8 miles in various directions from your current position, that way if displaying the info is completely useless.

The worst thing is that the direction is down as an arrow. I don't know if that arrow is in relation to North, or my cars current heading.

If it's the heading, which I suspect it is, it's completely useless because while I'm driving I don't know when that heading applied. Even worse, what if I just did a turn at a signal. Is the arrow now pointing in relation to my old heading, because the arrow doesn't change. It's super confusing!

It's not that voice commands don't work. But I haven't found them useful to find a location for me when driving. To be fair, I haven't tried it for quite a while. Waze with Android Auto just does everything so well, so I only use it when I need to find places on the go.

 

[Bruce M.]

Not being one who does a lot of long-distance driving, fast charging is largely irrelevant to me. At some point when COVID has faded I'll visit my brother and sister-in-law and will need to stop and charge on the way home, but 20 minutes at 50 kw will be enough to get me the rest of the way home. And any EV offers a convenience that no ICE vehicle ever will: The ability to leave home with a 100% "full tank" without having to go anywhere to fuel up. No doubt the technology will continue to improve and at some point all our cars -- even current Teslas -- will seem a bit antiquated. That's how it is with any developing techology.

 

[syntaxfx]

You’re right about most available chargers and I don’t have a lot of (or any) experience with EV road trips as mine is a city car with level 2 only. Having said that researching future EVs and chargers the Kona looks like it will be left behind.

That was something that bothered me a little when I bought the car. However, as I've gotten used to it, I find that (like others here) long trips haven't really changed for me. I still need a break every 2 or 3 hours and I've never managed to get my wife to finish breakfast or lunch on a journey in under 40 minutes.
Using ABRP, I just planned a 1200km trip for August. The total inconvenient charging time (ie. I will be sitting in the car with nothing else to do) is 15 minutes.
That's one stop on a 2 day journey.
The other 4 stops are meal breaks and an overnight charge at the motel around halfway.

Around home, I plug in overnight when I need to or plug in at the local shopping mall. On average, 80% down to 20% lasts about 5 days.
On occasion, I'll go and sit at a fast charger for 45 minutes with my laptop and get my emails and other paperwork up to date without being interrupted, which is kinda nice.
The hard part was getting a feel for the rate of consumption on hot and cold conditions. Once that was established, I stopped worrying about it.