Kona EV "Winter Mode" - defined and condensed

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navguy12 said:
I don’t have enough winter HVAC experience with the Kona to provide a definitive “procedure”, but a starting point would be seat heater and steering wheel heater on high, HVAC set point 17C and fan speed just high enough to keep the windscreen clear.
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Thank you for your answer. I tried 17-18C and just high enough fan speed last winter. Outside temperature was roughly -20. Car was preheated to twenty something to defrost the windows. The consumption was significantly lower compared to similar morning. I managed to get under 18 kWh/100km (3.45 mi/kWh or 5.56 km/kWh). My feet were a bit cold but it was due to my poor choice of shoes and socks.
 
AlexK said:
Thank you for your answer. I tried 17-18C and just high enough fan speed last winter. Outside temperature was roughly -20. Car was preheated to twenty something to defrost the windows. The consumption was significantly lower compared to similar morning. I managed to get under 18 kWh/100km (3.45 mi/kWh or 5.56 km/kWh). My feet were a bit cold but it was due to my poor choice of shoes and socks.
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Again, I’m most familiar with manual control of my TM3, but I have found that forcing the HVAC to always use fresh air (versus recirculate) in both the Kona and the TM3 eliminates any fogging up of the side Windows.
 
Maybe it is me, but the functionality of "Winter mode" is still confusing. Many contributions above make sense, yet some are contradictory. Battery heating (conditioning/plugged in while charging) makes sense, but using precious fuel to cut range in the middle of winter? I rather 'get there' and wait out longer charging. While plugged in you can heat (seat or even cabin) or go inside, if there is a place, to warm up.

I wish someone from Hyundai engineering would clear this up.
 
Winter is coming.. again! Has anyone considering modding their kona with "trigger battery heater" button? All the hardware to make it happen is already there, it is "simply" the matter of finding how to send the "plz turn battery heater on" message without interfering temperature safety thermostat.
 
Pix for the curious ...

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Just found out that the 64kWh edition will charge with a max. of 75+kW and the 38kWh with about 45. So that answers my question.
 
duende said:
@herode10: Thanks a lot for your Temperature/Chargin-power table. Are these values independent of which size battery is being charged?
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Only applies to 64 kWh pack. The 39 kWh pack has a different cells configuration then the 64 kWh. The 64 kWh has 98 groups of 3 cells in parallel connected in serie, while the 39 kWh has 88 groups of 2 cells in parallel connected in serie. Because of this, the 39 kWh pack will accept 2/3 of the current that the 64 kWh can take and the battery pack voltage is lower which will limit furthermore the charging power.
 
herode10 said:
Tired of getting frustrating charging rate on fast chargers (18-25 kW) under cold weather conditions, we got together a group of Kona owners to do some reverse engineering to understand when the battery heater activates. First thing to know, the BMS uses the temperature of lowest battery module in its logic to activate the battery heater. We found 3 conditions for the heater to activate:

  1. The battery heater will come On if the SOC is less than 33% and battery temp is -5 degC or less. It goes off when battery reaches 5 degC. This seems to be for conditionning the battery for an eventual stop to a fast DC charger. The Winter Mode needs to be active for this to happen.
  2. It will also be active when charging on 240v depending on battery temp as well. At -15 degC, it will engage around 82% soc. At 0 degC, it will engage around 91%. At 5 degC, activates around 93%. The Winter mode doesn't need to be active for this.
  3. The battery will be active on fast charger as well. In most conditions, it will heat the battery upto to 15 degC depending of the starting % SOC. The battery will continu heating due to the heat lost during charging.
Good to know on fast chargers:
Battery temp < 1 degC : max power 18 kW
1 degC > Battery temp > 5 degC: max power 25 kW
5 degC > Battery temp > 15 degC : max power 40 kW
15 degC > Battery temp > 25 degC: max power 50 kW (50kW chargers) or 56 kW (>100kW chargers)
Battery temp > 25 degC: max power > 70 kW (>100kW chargers)

With battery temp as low as -20 degC, no heater activation was observed in other situations. It is believe that at much lower battery temp, the heater will activate to protect the battery. Minimum exterior temperature we had so far is about -25 degC.
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What is also needed with our Kona EVs (besides the software ability to manually turn on the battery heater to increase charging speed), is the ability to reduce the DC charging speed via settings; similar to AC charging current limiting in the charge management screen.;)
If in a hurry, and cost is not an issue...use the manual heater setting before charging DC.
If time is not a concern and using a tier based charging setup, set the DC charging to minimum, to save $, and avoid the manual battery heater setting entirely - giving more range.
Take for example the new rates set in Quebec at Electric Circuit as per provincial regulations:
"The new pricing will be:

  • 22-kW fast charge stations
    • $7.31/ hour
  • 50-kW fast-charge stations
    • $12.39/ hour or $24.78/hour when battery level is more than or equal to 90 per cent
  • 100-kW fast-charging stations
    • $15.27/ hour 0-50 kW
    • $19.39/ hour 50 to 60 kW
    • $23.48/ hour 60 to 70 kW
    • $31.69/ hour 80 to 90 kW
    • $35.79/ hour 90 to 100 kW
    • $30.54/ hour 0 to 50 kW (battery level more than or equal to 90 per cent)
  • 100-kW+ fast charge stations
    • $35.79/ hour
The Electric Circuit is the largest public charging network for EVs in Quebec."
Typically @ a 50 kW machine I usually charge at, in cold weather it will peak at 44kW (a few minutes) then settle back to ~ 23 kW for the duration.
On the 100kW machine you can see the price would double (assuming full peak charge rate of 77 kW).
Personally, I would select a 22kW machine, or use the current limiting DC charge settings (set for under 50 kW) on the 100 kW machine and save a lot of $.
Can you imagine the cost charging Ionic 5 (c/w coldgate) using the the 100+ charger:eek:
While I am ranting, I would also like to see a battery temperature gauge (even in a bar type format).
 
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We should be charged by kWh, period. There can be time limits with extra charges, if necessary. Can't believe that with all the software driven stations out there, they can't do that. And lack of Canada Measurement certification is no excuse. If necessary, demand it of a charging station company.
 
electriceddy said:
... While I am ranting, I would also like to see a battery temperature gauge ...
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Yes, it's an absurd omission.
R P said:
We should be charged by kWh, period.
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Ideally but if a charger is in high demand there needs to be a motivation to vacate so others can charge. Most of our 50kW DC units bill at 25 cents per kWh plus 25 cents per minute, which in practice works out to be more than twice what EE mentions for 50kW.
 
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