I asked him to take me for a spin in it and it was great, and interesting.




i really wasn't that familiar with it, so was glad to take a look and go for a ride in it.

he got the ultimate trim which means loaded. I was quite surprised how many features were on it, it's pretty close to my G90! He has features including heated steering wheel, heated and cooled seats, all safety and convenience features, wireless phone charging area, apple carplay and android auto.

when he came by he'd driven 17 miles since it was charged and had 250 left. I asked him if he only charges to 80% like tesla recommends with theirs and he said no, hyundai's built in some extra capacity somehow, so you just charge it to 'full' as far as you're concerned and drive it. He said the car has a lifetime warranty on the battery. I asked how long to charge (with 220v outlet) and he said if it was near empty it would take 9 hours.

The front seats were PLENTY roomy. I didn't get in the back seats, but they seemed plenty roomy too. Cargo space was decent but this is no huge suv.

I think besides a golf cart this might be the first EV i'd been in! So of course he 'starts' the car (nothing apparently happens), put it in reverse (nothing apparently happens) and backs out of the parking spot, and off we go.

Car was definitely quite quick, but not neck snapping quick (although i don't know if he was flooring it).

The motors do emit a low level turbine type noise when accelerating.

My biggest take away though was that while the motors are quiet, quite a bit of road noise comes into the cabin, so this is not luxury car quiet.

Still, for his needs, which is a 30-40mi. commute each way to work plus errands, it's perfect and he's thrilled. He traded in a chevy volt.

his wife drives a large non-ev vehicle so they have that for long family trips if needed.

Fit and finish on the vehicle were perfect from what i could tell.

I liked the black exterior and dark gray interior.

That's about it, it was fun!

 

Pretty cool. I saw one of these at Boston Oizza last night. I like the styling and the size. No idea how much $$$ though.

 

I take it you mean on the battery (Typo)? .

Hmmm......with most hybrids, 8-9 hours is more typical of 110V outlets. With 220V, it's usually more like 2 or 3 hours....and with 400V outlets, around 20-30 minutes.

Some of this is real, and some probably perceived. With ICE vehicles, the same noise is often there, but at partly-hidden by the engine/transmssion noise.

That's what I keep trying to tell Jill.....the Koreans have taken over in this area from the Japanese.

 

The Korean interiors are good. So are the Japanese. There pros and cons to both.

But this thread is about the Kona EV.

 

The battery size determines how long it takes to charge. Hybrids all have super dinky batteries so it takes nothing to charge. Most EVs with a 75kwh batteries would take 3.5 days to charge on a 110v plug.

 

thanks, fixed it.

Sorry, no idea what you're referring to. Hybrids don't need charging. If you mean plug-in hybrids, they have relatively tiny batteries and an ICE as well so of course charging is faster. And never heard of a PHEV using 400V charging, but maybe some can.

since my own g90's engine/transmission is just about silent when not accelerating, i think i was in a good position to judge. Obviously i wasn't expecting it to be as well sound-insulated as my g90, but still, the road noise was more than i was expecting but maybe i'm just spoiled.

I don't agree with that at all. They've basically caught up not taken over.

 

My daughter’s teacher bought one of these a couple months back and loves it. Traded in her CX-9 for it.

 

Yes, I meant plug-ins. Since you mentioned he uses a 220V charger, I assumed (perhaps falsely) that it was a Plug-in-Hybrid.

The problem is also with the Japanese vehicles having been cheapened inside. The Korean vehicles, IMO, now just seem to have a more solid feel to them, and more-solid Thunks when you shut the doors. But both are a ways from the M-B products built before the 1990s LOL.

 

OK, I see what you are getting at.....the BEV batteries vs. plug-in Hybrid batteries. I'll stand at least partly-corrected.

BTW, Jill and Bitkahuna, When my brother's GF is ready to start shopping, that's the first place I'm going to take her.....to see the Kona, and, if she can wait till spring, to the upcoming Kia Seltos (the Kona's brother) which, I think, will be an even nicer design. But I don't think she will be able to afford the more expensive hybrid or electric versions.

 

We looked at a KIA Forte, the new design, slightly used at the Autopark. When closing the door, you could hear some sort of rattle, definitely not impressive. The Forte next to it did not have the rattle. Someone I know just got a new Forte and the rear window defogger is not working, new windshield still did not get it right. I personally do not like the red backlight lights in most KIAs. I don't have an issue with the materials at all. But I think the new Toyota Corolla hatch from Japan has superior materials over the KIAs in the same segments, but I like the Forte hatch design as well as the Elantra hatch design as well. The new Toyota and Honda powertrains are also superior.

But lets get back to Kona.

 

Looked at the Kona EV pricing. The price is $44,000 for the ultimate. The gas version is $26,000 for the ultimate. That is a very expensive price upgrade to go all electric.

 

I assume there's a tax credit for the EV. And of course, no gas costs. Little to no maintenance costs.

 

That's near the price of a Dual Motor Tesla Model 3. This won't sell well. It's not worth it over the gas version.

 

Sorry, wasn't thinking clearly when I wrote this. She bought a Kia Niro EV, not a Kona EV.

 

the u.s. isn't the only market. In s. Korea hyundai/kia have sold 18K niro/kona's this year, but tesla hasn't been there, until apparently now... so we'll see!

https://cleantechnica.com/2019/12/06...vehicle-sales/

But you make a good point, i'll ask my friend why he got the kona. Maybe he just doesn't like Elon Musk.