Small issues/quirks

[BC-Doc]

No issues with my Kona EV.

Two reasons, however, for posting on this thread (first item isn’t pertinent to this thread but I don’t no where else to post it and it’s not worthy of a new thread).

1) Consumer Reports finished its review of the Kona EV. The Kona is now their number one EV pick, tied with the Prius Prime with both receiving a score of 78.

2) Consumer Reports one gripe— the headlights. In particular the reviewers didn’t like the low beam headlights scoring them a 1/5. Interestingly this isn’t an issue I’ve seen raised here.

For the record, it was Consumer Reports preliminary review of the Kona EV back in April that got me really thinking about an EV purchase. The review was so favourable that it probably accelerated my purchase of an EV by two or three years. That, plus an increasingly unreliable Honda minivan and $16k in rebates available at the time here in B.C.

Cheers,

BC Doc

 

[Wildeyed]

No issues with my Kona EV.

Two reasons, however, for posting on this thread (first item isn’t pertinent to this thread but I don’t no where else to post it and it’s not worthy of a new thread).

1) Consumer Reports finished its review of the Kona EV. The Kona is now their number one EV pick, tied with the Prius Prime with both receiving a score of 78.

2) Consumer Reports one gripe— the headlights. In particular the reviewers didn’t like the low beam headlights scoring them a 1/5. Interestingly this isn’t an issue I’ve seen raised here.

For the record, it was Consumer Reports preliminary review of the Kona EV back in April that got me really thinking about an EV purchase. The review was so favourable that it probably accelerated my purchase of an EV by two or three years. That, plus an increasingly unreliable Honda minivan and $16k in rebates available at the time here in B.C.

Cheers,

BC Doc

I think they're nuts. I've been particularly happy with the Kona headlights. Very bright, very level and well defined and the auto setting is near flawless. Best headlights I've ever had.

I can see the low beams on the vehicles in front of me and the beam is cropped perfectly below the level of their rear windows.

 

[XtsKonaTrooper]

I think they're nuts. I've been particularly happy with the Kona headlights. Very bright, very level and we'll defined and the auto setting is near flawless. Best headlights I've ever had.

Ill second that.
Oncoming traffic, doesnt like low beam but i give them a taste of the high beam. Lol

 

[Wildeyed]

Ill second that.
Oncoming traffic, doesnt like low beam but i give them a taste of the high beam. Lol

And maybe somebody can confirm or maybe poo-poo this but I thought I read a report about how good the Kona headlights were. Maybe it was the IIHS? Anyway, I remember agreeing with the report that the lights were good.

 

[BC-Doc]

I agree— no complaints about headlights from me or my family.

From the review:

“Headlights

The LED headlights, available on the Limited and Ultimate trim levels of the Kona Electric, are very bright and white. But, unfortunately, the LED low beam headlights do a poor job of illuminating the road ahead. The low beam pattern also lacks some uniformity, with shadowy, uneven light within the beam pattern.

The high beams maintain the same high levels of brightness, and also do a very good job of projecting that light down the road. Drivers will want to switch to high beams as often as possible to benefit from this added visibility. High-beam assist, which automatically switches between high and low beams as conditions allow.

We tested the standard halogen lamps on our non-EV Kona, and they showed that while they are not nearly as bright as the LEDs, they actually provide better low beam seeing distances.”

 

[electriceddy]

I agree— no complaints about headlights from me or my family.

From the review:

“Headlights

The LED headlights, available on the Limited and Ultimate trim levels of the Kona Electric, are very bright and white. But, unfortunately, the LED low beam headlights do a poor job of illuminating the road ahead. The low beam pattern also lacks some uniformity, with shadowy, uneven light within the beam pattern.

The high beams maintain the same high levels of brightness, and also do a very good job of projecting that light down the road. Drivers will want to switch to high beams as often as possible to benefit from this added visibility. High-beam assist, which automatically switches between high and low beams as conditions allow.

We tested the standard halogen lamps on our non-EV Kona, and they showed that while they are not nearly as bright as the LEDs, they actually provide better low beam seeing distances.”

"Good sh*t" Bjorn technical analysis :

 

[Esprit1st]

Whatever they were testing. My LED low beam headlights are awesome.

And I get lots of friends who day go to me when they go the other direction [emoji12]

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

 

[KiwiME]

I have the halogens and don't like them. But $6k more and months of waiting delivery for a model with LEDs was unacceptable. It's a good thing I rarely drive at night.

 

[Gjpzee]

I wish the driver seat could go lower. I have the SEL trim and it has non powered seats. I wonder if the powered versions actually go lower. My wife's Santa fe does go quite low, but it has powered seats.

 

[CJC]

I wish the driver seat could go lower. I have the SEL trim and it has non powered seats. I wonder if the powered versions actually go lower. My wife's Santa fe does go quite low, but it has powered seats.

We have the Kona EV Ultimate and the seats do not go low enough for us. Only the driver's seat is electric powered. A month ago we bought the 2020 Soul EV primarily because we are tall and the head banging on entry to the Kona EV was beyond annoying to us. We also wanted more room for our dog crates. In the Soul both front seats are powered. We love the Soul EV so far. We can lower and raise the seat for perfect comfort. It gets similar mileage to our Kona. Also the nav and infotainment system on the Soul is miles ahead of our Kona. I would say the Soul has softer suspension and more comfortable seats and the Kona is more sports car like and holds the winding road with a more stable feel. If I was 20 years younger, I probably would prefer the Kona due to road handling as its solidness reminds me of an expensive German car, but being 70 yrs old I vote for the comfort of the Soul EV. There is lots to be said for a good easy entry to a car as one ages and gets stiffer.

 

[Esprit1st]

I have the halogens and don't like them. But $6k more and months of waiting delivery for a model with LEDs was unacceptable. It's a good thing I rarely drive at night.

I believe that I read/heard somewhere that the halogens are crap and the LEDs are great on the Kona. Really seems to be the case.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

 

[Jamas]

No issues with my Kona EV.

Two reasons, however, for posting on this thread (first item isn’t pertinent to this thread but I don’t no where else to post it and it’s not worthy of a new thread).

1) Consumer Reports finished its review of the Kona EV. The Kona is now their number one EV pick, tied with the Prius Prime with both receiving a score of 78.

2) Consumer Reports one gripe— the headlights. In particular the reviewers didn’t like the low beam headlights scoring them a 1/5. Interestingly this isn’t an issue I’ve seen raised here.

For the record, it was Consumer Reports preliminary review of the Kona EV back in April that got me really thinking about an EV purchase. The review was so favourable that it probably accelerated my purchase of an EV by two or three years. That, plus an increasingly unreliable Honda minivan and $16k in rebates available at the time here in B.C.

Cheers,

BC Doc

One of the very first things I noticed when I got my Kona EV Ultimate with the LED headlights was how much brighter and clearer they were than the headlights on my 2009 CRV. I was very impressed by them. Consumer Reports is great, for the most part, but you always have to take their reviews with a small grain of salt. I noticed that their reviews sometimes carry the reviewers biases, especially on things that can be interpreted as subjective.

 

[Jamas]

Don't know if I'd file this under issue, quirk or feature. But...

When the display on my Ultimate is in default mode, it shows the map on the left side and the radio station that is currently playing on the right. Pressing the Channel UP button on the steering wheel cycles downwards through my saved stations. Pressing DOWN cycles upwards through my saved stations. When I hit the Radio button, the map is replaced with the list of saved channels. Now, pressing the Channel UP button on the steering wheel cycles upwards through my saved stations. Pressing DOWN cycles downwards through my saved stations. What a strange inconsistency.

 

[Sandwedge]

Don't know if I'd file this under issue, quirk or feature. But...

When the display on my Ultimate is in default mode, it shows the map on the left side and the radio station that is currently playing on the right. Pressing the Channel UP button on the steering wheel cycles downwards through my saved stations. Pressing DOWN cycles upwards through my saved stations. When I hit the Radio button, the map is replaced with the list of saved channels. Now, pressing the Channel UP button on the steering wheel cycles upwards through my saved stations. Pressing DOWN cycles downwards through my saved stations. What a strange inconsistency.

Yes, this is very annoying and strange like you stated.

 

[electriceddy]

it does not change during driving.. Every 2 or 3 days, when I start driving, it starts at level 2 again in eco mode..

I can confirm my ECCO regen mysteriously moved to level 2, had to reset in menu. The software ghosts are clowning around again.

 

[KiwiME]

I believe that I read/heard somewhere that the halogens are crap and the LEDs are great on the Kona...

What I did try today for the first time was the auto dipping feature. Amazingly in 8 months of ownership I’ve never seen this feature activate, despite often setting it on, probably because I’ve only been driving at city speeds at night. It seems to work well on rural roads with distant approaching cars but it also picked up some bright field lights when I passed by the cricket grounds.

 

[robxb]

The dimpled front end is going to cost me at least an extra hour to Wax/detail ( typically 4 times a year)
The seagulls love the blue

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but I think it's dimpled to actually REDUCE aero-drag. The same reason golf balls have all those dimples, which was proven on Mythbusters.

 

[robxb]

The one quirky thing that I don't care for is the auto hold not being default and having to set it each time you start the car. HOWEVER, that may be a blessing as I find once you put the auto hold on backing up is a herky jerky experience. I have to really watch how much gas I apply as I am backing out of the garage as it sort of backs up with a burst of speed. I have learned to leave the auto hold off until I am backed right out of the garage.

It seems odd that auto-hold would apply if the car is in reverse.. Also...gas?

 

[robxb]

I just noticed a small quirk. As I've been saying, my charge seems to top out at 360. Yesterday was no different at 359 upon start-up. But I happened to glance at the charge again not 300 metres down the road and it read 378 (without any regen). So there's clearly some recalculating going on constantly.

Warmer weather, perhaps?

 

[robxb]

Yes, I use the paddle 90% of the time as well.It's a fun challenge to make it perfect.
I found that in city traffic auto Regen in level 1 is not strong enough to get to a good stop all the time. If I use 1 I have to use the brakes to come to a stop without hitting a car in front of me.
With level 2 and it switching to 3 itself I don't have to use the brakes.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

I don't have my Kona yet, but I believe that I read somewhere that if you gently let your foot off of the accelerator pedal WHILE holding onto the left regen paddle, you can come to a stop smoother than just by the paddle alone. Has anyone tested this? When I test drove it, I found it was a pretty abrupt stop using the paddle alone.

When using the brake pedal, does is just use friction brakes, or is there regen going on as well? I saw someone say that there was a weird lack of braking while the car was switching from regen to braking with the pedal depressed.