More range and new tires for March production

[Domenick]

Isn't this upgrade just for the European version?

I went back to the source of the most recent InsideEVs post about this -- Autocar -- which says that it affects European cars from March onward and UK cars (right-hand-drive) from July. I've sent an email to Hyundai USA to ask whether North American-bound vehicles might also be getting this 8% boost and whether there might be some way for existing owners to get it.

 

[KiwiME]

I find it hard to believe that Hyundai's engineers missed 8% on the WLTP after designing an EV of better than average efficiency. I have to wonder if the improvements will play out that much in real life driving.

 

[hobbit]

Some degree of extra range can probably be had for free, regardless
of which tires you have: pump them all up to 60 PSI or better. They'll
ride better with lower resistance, and last longer. [Well, maybe that
last one would be a disadvantage for the Nexens, given how often
people complain about them. Mine feel and track just fine though.]

It would be nice to get comparison pics of the underbody work across
model years.

_H*

 

[Tim94549]

I went back to the source of the most recent InsideEVs post about this -- Autocar -- which says that it affects European cars from March onward and UK cars (right-hand-drive) from July. I've sent an email to Hyundai USA to ask whether North American-bound vehicles might also be getting this 8% boost and whether there might be some way for existing owners to get it.

Thanks for doing that ... I'd be interested in hearing what you find out - and whether we all (in USA) should send nag requests/complaints to them.

 

[ehatch]

I went back to the source of the most recent InsideEVs post about this -- Autocar -- which says that it affects European cars from March onward and UK cars (right-hand-drive) from July. I've sent an email to Hyundai USA to ask whether North American-bound vehicles might also be getting this 8% boost and whether there might be some way for existing owners to get it.

Hyundai can practice using OTA updates would be great.Especially fix the charging speed to hit 75kW up to 80% if they speak to InsideEV This may resolve that EA tier problem.

 

[ehatch]

Yea, me too ! We JUST bought the 2020 (end of December 2019) and feel a bit "taken" by this immediate UPGRADE to the Vehicle. They SHOULD provide this Upgrade for FREE for vehicles purchased in last few months !! Anyone know the right place to plead our case?

On a driveway entrance that's terribly built to begin with,I have scraped,and I am NOT happy.I think first production should get the updated efficiency cover,or whatever if the owner wants it. The other thing, any 2020 N.Am.owners have LKA ? This is totally a software activation.

 

[ehatch]

The Kona Electric getting a range-rating boosted to 484 km (301 miles) WLTP. In Norway, at least.

I went through a bunch of Hyundai's European country sites and the Norwegian one is the only one that shows this number. As the linked article states, it's at least in part (and possibly all) due to the switch to Michelin Primacy 4 tires.

So, this leads me to wonder if any owners out there happen to have switched to these tires and if they've seen an increase in range. Or, if some other tire switch has led to an increase.

There is some speculation that this could be in part to improved batteries or efficiency gains elsewhere. I think if that were the case, the change would be more widely noted by Hyundai. Range is a huge selling point and if I was selling a car and its range was improved, I sure would be letting the world know.
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I am off topic,but did you,or anyone here experience your vehicle settings changed after a firmware update? I noticed the center speaker was off after i wondered why the music sounded off Some icons on the infotainment appeared again after disappearing,still don't have a list of traffic in the area.

 

[Domenick]

So, I heard back from Hyundai. They couldn't get into specifics about timing, but did say that "Detailed changes will be made later in the year for the U.S. market Kona..." They consider these changes "future product" and so won't give any details. When it does happen, though, there will be a press release, so there will certainly be news of it here on the Forum.

No word about whether there would be anything that could be retrofitted. I'm hoping that once the improved cars come to market, someone will put one on a lift and compare the underside to that of the current ones.

To prepare for that, does anyone have a good photo or video of the underside of a current Kona Electric?

p.s. Wrote up a post about this for InsideEVs.