My new Kona Electric and my first impressions

CJC said:
Didn't even think about the sensors when we got the Michelin CrossClimates. They must have left the sensors in that came with the Nexen tires.
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It sounds like you had the winter tires installed on the original aluminum rims. I'm buying a full set of steel rims for winter use so I either have to buy the sensors for the new set of wheels or go without.
 
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Mdsweb said:
I got my Michelin X-ice winters installed at Costco $15/tire installation (purchased at Canadian Tire on clearance @$138 ea).

I watched the whole procedure (Like a concerned new parent) and even got to take a peek under the car while on the lift.

I asked them specifically about the TPMS sensors and they said they are built in to the tire valves so it doesn’t matter what you install - they will still work normally.
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Again, sounds like you are using the oem wheels that came with the car. The trouble with that is that when/if you change back and forth between winter and summer you're really beating up the seal. I wouldn't want to do that more than a couple times. I was just curious if anybody had experience getting aftermarket sensors to sync up with the Hyundai system. No biggie.
 
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Mdsweb said:
I got my Michelin X-ice winters installed at Costco $15/tire installation (purchased at Canadian Tire on clearance @$138 ea).

I watched the whole procedure (Like a concerned new parent) and even got to take a peek under the car while on the lift.

I asked them specifically about the TPMS sensors and they said they are built in to the tire valves so it doesn’t matter what you install - they will still work normally.
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Glad that you wrote about this as my husband thought that was the case when we switched out our stock Nexen tires for Michelin CrossClimate before we brought the car home. He says in the future it is important that they match up the correct tires to the previous position so that you know that the shown tire pressure on the gauge is for the correct tire. Sounds like you got very good price!
 
Wildeyed said:
Again, sounds like you are using the oem wheels that came with the car. The trouble with that is that when/if you change back and forth between winter and summer you're really beating up the seal. I wouldn't want to do that more than a couple times. I was just curious if anybody had experience getting aftermarket sensors to sync up with the Hyundai system. No biggie.
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I bought steel wheels with aftermarket sensors and they are working just fine. My brother in law (also my tire guy) said they'll need to be run faster than 30kph for at least 15 minutes. Yesterday when I brought the car home the light stayed on the whole time, but I also had the factory tires in the trunk so I was probably trying to read 8 sensors. This morning driving to work I had no issues and no tire warning lights.
 
Shawn Schinkel said:
I bought steel wheels with aftermarket sensors and they are working just fine. My brother in law (also my tire guy) said they'll need to be run faster than 30kph for at least 15 minutes. Yesterday when I brought the car home the light stayed on the whole time, but I also had the factory tires in the trunk so I was probably trying to read 8 sensors. This morning driving to work I had no issues and no tire warning lights.
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Cool. Thanks for the info.
 
Burnaby Tom said:
I have to say thanks to all my fellow Kona owners - and soon to be owners (hang in there Wildeyed!) - for all the great info everyone is sharing. I have also limited my driving this week because of the snow in Van city, mostly because of all the terrible drivers out there. The couple times I had my Kona out in the snow I was very impressed with it's stability & traction - and I'm still on the stock tires. I can't wait for the weather to clear - I've still got to take the drive up to Whistler.

Also, I gotta say a big thanks to E-Shark. Last Saturday I took my '92 4Runner to the Scrap-It yard. I started chatting with another customer in the office...we both had just bought a Kona...we both are following the InsideEVs forum..."What's your user name?" says I..."E-Shark" says he! We had a great chat, shared some info and then he was kind enough to drive me to the Skytrain station - saving me at least a half-hour walk on blustery, cold (for Van) winter day.
Thanks again E-Shark! :)

Here's the link to the EV University on-line courses I mentioned: https://evannex.com/pages/ev-curriculum-courses
I haven't completed all the courses yet. It's a few years old & the first few are pretty basic but they do get better (battery tech & regen).
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You're welcome, it was great to randomly meet a fellow Kona EV owner and forum member! Good thing we got it done that day, before the snow hit.
Thanks for the link, will definitely check it out.
Keep me updated when you decide to go to Whistler.
 
I gotta say, this new car is pretty slick. I've been driving a Chevy Volt for the last 2 years so it's not quite as much of a shock switching over to the electric motor style of driving with instant power and low noise. That being said, this thing is very powerful, quiet, and it seems to have better traction than my Volt did. It always seemed like I had to feather the throttle off the line in the Volt or I would roast the tires every time whereas the Kona is more forgiving (as long as the lead foot doesn't get too excited!)
 
Picked up my Kona yesterday from Bexhill-On-Sea, my first impressions are very positive, it goes like the clappers and is very comfortable to drive. I think the tyre noise is a bit loud but perhaps that because it’s not covered by the engine noise. Someone said on line that when it’s new tyre time he’d choose a different tyre, but that’s for the future. My wife loves the colour we went for blue two tone white roof 64kwh she feel it’s nicer looking than in the photos. Rear leg rooms a bit tight but then I don’t sit in the back and mostly it’s just the two of us. There’s a lot of switches to Learn about so I’ll take my time getting to know what does what, one pedal driving feel very odd at the moment, I keep going to brake and then remembering the paddles! but I’m sure given time it’ll all come naturally, I might try setting the predictive regeneration and see how it works out. At the moment I’ve left it in stage one regeneration and that feel similar to how an ICE works. It’s early days but I’m really delighted with my purchase.
 
zoominbc said:
The car does beep beep when you back up and the one sound that surprised me was a kind of sky train sound as you accelerate. The centre of the seats are perforated leather and are really nice. I like the whole inside and mine is black. I’m sure the lighter colour will be really sharp.
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Ours has the lighter blue/grey upholstery in leather and it’s really smashing, just so long as it kept clean!
 
Colin Munro said:
Ours has the lighter blue/grey upholstery in leather and it’s really smashing, just so long as it kept clean!
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We have the Ceramic Blue with light interior too, but we couldn't get the white roof. I'm still tempted to wrap it at some point as I do like the white roof. Only problem with that is our Ceramic Blue has the black trim over the wheels, etc. so it might not look so good. Congratulations on your new car. We have had ours for about a week and a half now and like it very much.
 
What color is the dashboard in the light interior? I heard a lot of Bolt owners complained about the light dashboard being reflected in the windscreen. Do you have the same issue or is it not a problem?

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk
 
Esprit1st said:
What color is the dashboard in the light interior? I heard a lot of Bolt owners complained about the light dashboard being reflected in the windscreen. Do you have the same issue or is it not a problem?

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk
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I have the light dash in mine. It is a light grey with almost ceramic blue accents. It looks very good and I haven't had any reflection issues at all so far even with a a super sunny afternoon yesterday.
 
Here's a few pictures of the light coloured dash. I took them inside my garage with all the garage Led lights on which are pretty bright. I can see a bit of dash reflection, but I didn't really notice it until I looked for it. Ignore the garage mess, work in progress!

The dash is quite light coloured, but it is also a fairly matte material so I don't think it will produce a ton of glare.IMG_20190216_085052.webpIMG_20190216_085101.webpIMG_20190216_085108.webpIMG_20190216_085144.webp
 
It looks nice. We live in Las Vegas now, so I am thinking light colors to reduce need for AC. But I'm a little concerned with glare on the windshield. That's why I asked. It seems though that the glare you produced is from a lower angle than you would have sitting in the car.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk
 
Esprit1st said:
It looks nice. We live in Las Vegas now, so I am thinking light colors to reduce need for AC. But I'm a little concerned with glare on the windshield. That's why I asked. It seems though that the glare you produced is from a lower angle than you would have sitting in the car.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk
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No glare so far from our dash with light interior. Hasn't been an issue at all.
 
E-Shark said:
So I've left my EV parked and unused for the last week, didn't really want to bother taking it in the snow yet. I've been monitoring the battery levels and the range, so at least I can update everyone on that. In one week of no driving and minimal starting, maybe 2-3 times at most, battery dropped to 85% (from 86) and range dropped to 387km (from 388), not bad at all!! Now if I start driving it I wonder if it will decrease faster, that's for another day.
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I went on vacation and left my Kona in my cold garage for 15 days. Just checked and battery was only down from 100% to 99%. I am impresssd.
 
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