Is Hyundai Kona electric right for us?

[Yellerledbetty]

We live in BC as well. I will have to look into that.

We test drove the Kona on Saturday. It was -2 and snow on the ground. So perfect day for test driving a car.

Honestly we were both pleasantly surprised with how it drove. As well as the regenerative breaking. We went out for close to 45 mins and came back with a full charge. And that was with trying out hills and having the heat on.

I agree with CJC, the inside is small. I sat in the back seat and my head hits the roof. The seats itself were fine for us comfort wise. I could tell the seats were on the small side for me, but the wife loved them. All in all it was a good driving experience. And we decided to put a refundable deposit down on a new 2020. Now we just have to wait for it to come in...

I will miss the power leather and cooled seats of the truck though. But I think not have to pay for gas makes up for it.

I’d spring for the top trim and get the leather and power drivers seat. Nice options. I’m 6’4” and a heavy 230lbs I’ll fit in the back seats but kids are there for now. Definitely less room that our pickup but small price to pay for what we get! I thought that Kamloops Hyundai had an Ultimate on the lot a few weeks back. Might have been a ‘19 though.


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[electriceddy]

We live in BC as well. I will have to look into that.

We test drove the Kona on Saturday. It was -2 and snow on the ground. So perfect day for test driving a car.

Honestly we were both pleasantly surprised with how it drove. As well as the regenerative breaking. We went out for close to 45 mins and came back with a full charge. And that was with trying out hills and having the heat on.

I agree with CJC, the inside is small. I sat in the back seat and my head hits the roof. The seats itself were fine for us comfort wise. I could tell the seats were on the small side for me, but the wife loved them. All in all it was a good driving experience. And we decided to put a refundable deposit down on a new 2020. Now we just have to wait for it to come in...

I will miss the power leather and cooled seats of the truck though. But I think not have to pay for gas makes up for it.

Ultimate version comes with 8 way power drivers seat and both front seats are ventilated with leather seating surfaces.
https://hyundaicanada.com/en/showroom/2020/kona-electric/trims

 

[Llorgon]

1. With studded tires it’s a tank that won’t fail you. See attached pic for wife’s vehicle of choice (Kona even wins over our 2014 Sierra 4x4 w/ Nokian studded winters) for current shite weather the west coast of Canada is going thru. I actually had a 2011 F150 that I sold so I know where ur coming from. I’d consider getting a small utility trailer and a tow hitch attached if you still think you’ll do ‘dump runs’ etc. We are looking at adding a Yakima or Thule ski box to the rooftop as it will double the trunk capacity - and allow for trips to the ski hill. You almost describe B.C. living to a ‘T’. What region are you from?

2. We hav had no issues running straight from 120A wall plug on a daily basis from home. Soon to move but Level 2 charger is coming soon. If need be you can always find a local DC Level 3 charger for top-ups. You’ll put on about 10km/hr when plugged into a standard house plug.

3. We are averaging about a 15% loss in range between 0°C —> -15°C. That’s without a garage. Range is down ~25% from a cold start but quickly picks up once you start driving in the cold temps as thermal battery management system kicks in.

4. We Bought in August ‘19 and even got leather seats (‘Ultimate’ trim here in Canada) and the A/C handles with ease. Cooled seats are awesome. We have high temps in mid- to upper 30’s.

5. Hills are a draw for sure but Regenerative braking really helps. I probably use 80% less brakes as a result. Highway driving can also be a range zapper - no different than an ICE. Drive at 130 and you’ll quickly see gages drop. That being said we drove from Kamloops BC to Richmond BC via the mountain pass (Coquihalla) and did not. We’d to stop to charge. That was with 2 adults, 2 kids and overnight bags. Finished with 60km of range - drove a conservative 100km/hr whole way so that helped.

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Good to know that the coquihalla is doable in the kona. Will probably be driving that a few times this year at least. I'm in Kelowna, well Lake country between Kelowna and Vernon. So not far from Kamloops.

How much does the electric bill increase from always charging at home?

I’d spring for the top trim and get the leather and power drivers seat. Nice options. I’m 6’4” and a heavy 230lbs I’ll fit in the back seats but kids are there for now. Definitely less room that our pickup but small price to pay for what we get! I thought that Kamloops Hyundai had an Ultimate on the lot a few weeks back. Might have been a ‘19 though.
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Ultimate version comes with 8 way power drivers seat and both front seats are ventilated with leather seating surfaces.
https://hyundaicanada.com/en/showroom/2020/kona-electric/trims

Unfortunately the top trim is out of our budget so preferred it is. Next car we get I will make sure to get my cooled seats again.

 

[apu]

How much does the electric bill increase from always charging at home?

I really depends on how may kilometers you drive, electrical consumption which is dictated by environment, road conditions and your electrical home rate.
If you want averages you can look at transport Canada average consumption figure of $452 for the year and divide that by 12 to get a rough idea. Their figure assumes 20,000 km annual driving and 13 cent per kilowatt/hr electricity cost.

 

[FloridaSun]

I really depends on how may kilometers you drive, electrical consumption which is dictated by environment, road conditions and your electrical home rate.
If you want averages you can look at transport Canada average consumption figure of $452 for the year and divide that by 12 to get a rough idea. Their figure assumes 20,000 km annual driving and 13 cent per kilowatt/hr electricity cost.

In my case, I'm very lucky that my Electric Company offers off peak rates at night at 4.7 cents/kwh.. My electric bill has gone up only about US$15 to $20 per month compared to the previous year and I drive 3000 miles/4800 km PER MONTH..
I do get lots of free charges also... Plenty of places around here offer free Level 2 charging and we also have some free DC Fast charging locations. My total annual cost (doing the service myself) for 35k miles per year is $80 for 2 x cabin air filter (ever 15k miles), $210 per year for electricity at home and about $50 per year for my road trips where I need to get Level 3 charging on the road.. $210+$50+$80 = US $340 per year/35k miles. Previously, I drove my F150 crew cab as daily driver, I spent US$4900 per year on gas, $120 for oil changes.. over $5000 per year... so I'm saving over $4500 per year over my F150..

 

[electriceddy]

I really depends on how may kilometers you drive, electrical consumption which is dictated by environment, road conditions and your electrical home rate.
If you want averages you can look at transport Canada average consumption figure of $452 for the year and divide that by 12 to get a rough idea. Their figure assumes 20,000 km annual driving and 13 cent per kilowatt/hr electricity cost.

Those numbers are pretty accurate and I usually advise prospective EV owners $15 to $20 CDN per month average cost when asked. (For home charging)

 

[SkookumPete]

Those numbers are pretty accurate and I usually advise prospective EV owners $15 to $20 CDN per month average cost when asked. (For home charging)

More precisely, in BC it works out to around 2½ cents per summertime km. Compare the Kona Turbo's 12¢/km at today's pump prices.

 

[Llorgon]

ok. $15-20 month increase is pretty good. I think my sister said her bill went up by $17 dollars when she got her Ioniq.

 

[FloridaSun]

This coming electric bill (Dec 20 to Jan 20) is most likely lower than last year's bill without the EV because of the unusually mild winter. So far, I did not have to turn on the heater in my house (which is a electric heat pump) this January. Our temperatures for the last 6 days and the forecast for the next 5 is 80 - 85F (27 - 30C) which is well above average. Even night temperatures have been barely below 68F (20C).. Our normal low temperature for January is in the mid 50's.... about 13C

 

[Yellerledbetty]

Good to know that the coquihalla is doable in the kona. Will probably be driving that a few times this year at least. I'm in Kelowna, well Lake country between Kelowna and Vernon. So not far from Kamloops.

How much does the electric bill increase from always charging at home?
We don’t have a Lvl2 charger installed yet but we commute about 50km/day round trip so it’s not an issue just to plug into standard socket at home. Kamloops has only had 1 DC3 charger (at TRU/TCC) but with PetroCanada now open (not keen to pay *their* rates) and the Aberdeen Canadian Tire slated to get one of the Electrify Canada chargers (Tku VW!) things will be a even easier to ‘splash and dash’. TBH I have only had one attempt to charge thwarted by someone already at that TRU charger. As far as costs go - it’s a negligible cost increase about $6-$7/charge.




Unfortunately the top trim is out of our budget so preferred it is. Next car we get I will make sure to get my cooled seats again.

 

[Kathryne]

ok. $15-20 month increase is pretty good. I think my sister said her bill went up by $17 dollars when she got her Ioniq.

I travel about 120km a day 5 days a week and about the same over the two days on the weekend. I consume about 475 kwh per month, and at the highest BC hydro rate of .13 per kwh, that runs me about $65/mo on my Hydro bill. In reality, that would be less as the tiered rate kicks in only after so much consumption. So if I assume a blended rate of .11 per kwh and a full rate of .13 kwh, my monthly costs would be between $53 to $65/mo or $627 - $780/yr.

My chargepoint charger gives me all of that information and also calculates my costs monthly based on my hydro plan, so I'm pretty confident in those numbers even though I've only had the Kona for two months.

 

[Llorgon]

I travel about 120km a day 5 days a week and about the same over the two days on the weekend. I consume about 475 kwh per month, and at the highest BC hydro rate of .13 per kwh, that runs me about $65/mo on my Hydro bill. In reality, that would be less as the tiered rate kicks in only after so much consumption. So if I assume a blended rate of .11 per kwh and a full rate of .13 kwh, my monthly costs would be between $53 to $65/mo or $627 - $780/yr.

My chargepoint charger gives me all of that information and also calculates my costs monthly based on my hydro plan, so I'm pretty confident in those numbers even though I've only had the Kona for two months.

That's pretty close to what our usage would be. 100km/day mon-friday, but maybe 50km if that on most weekends. Still $65 a month is less than one tank of gas.