Hyundai Kona

Miscreant

innrain wrote: »

The facelift was announced. Hopefully it will keep the premium specs, which got missing here previously.

Looks like a slightly better nose from the current model and a few little tweaks but I don't think there are too many other changes. The thing for me was the overall size of the vehicle being too small and cramped on the inside.

liamog

Miscreant wrote: »

The thing for me was the overall size of the vehicle being too small and cramped on the inside.

It was the Irish spec that killed my enthusiasm for the Kona, it was hard to compare it against the Ioniq when they didn't make the driving tech available in Ireland, but still charged such a high price. Clearly the market disagreed with me

Kramer

liamog wrote: »

Clearly the market disagreed with me

It sold because it was the first "affordable" EV with 400km+ range. Agree though, it was very poorly specced here, for the price, plasticky inside & just too small.

I'll always remember the wheelspin though with traction control switched off. It would smoke both fronts equally & keep them spinning for quite a while, if done right .

People would be alarmed to hear screeching tyres & see the smoke, but hear no engine revving.............allegedly :pac:.

innrain

Kramer wrote: »

It sold because it was the first "affordable" EV with 400km+ range. Agree though, it was very poorly specced here, for the price, plasticky inside & just too small.

I have one and I agree.
In January 2019 there was nothing else. TM3 was not on the horizon and even so still 10k more expensive, eniro a year waiting list. I wanted an EV since 2016 but nothing was suitable for my driving distances and considering I don't have a home charger. When I studied the car I was looking at reviews in UK/US so at the drive test got a big shock. Hyundai Ireland knew they have no competition and banked on that. Unthinkable not to have the premium spec if you pay for it. Things will be different next year.
Still got it though. Most of the time I'm alone in the car so the space is okish. It is a very efficient car and on my daily commute which comprises the length of M50 plus some bits in the city, (at the legal speed limit as it is mostly empty these days) I get around 15 kWh/100km. I'm at 42k km in 19 months and I don't think I could have done it with eGolf or Ioniq

mp3guy

Got a letter in the post today re: the voluntary recall.

innrain

My Kona tells me it OK to drive with 120km/h on NCR. I'm afraid that I'll loose the efficiency Honestly I was looking to see of I'm on a 30km/h road when noticed the 120 speed limit.

mp3guy

FYI Blue Link has been released in Europe: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hyundai.bluelink.eu

Just set it up, now I can control charging and HVAC from the app.

spakman

mp3guy wrote: »

FYI Blue Link has been released in Europe: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hyundai.bluelink.eu

Just set it up, now I can control charging and HVAC from the app.

No problems with your VIN? When I enter mine it says "Enter a valid VIN".
It's definitely correct, entered it on a website which decoded it. wasn't sure between 0 and O but tried both.
Maybe 191s aren't supported?

innrain

No is not supported
https://www.hyundai.news/eu/brand/bluelinkr-connected-car-services-on-all-models/

it says "Bluelink Connected Car Services are available to all customers who choose the new optional onboard AVN system that comes with 10.25-inch split touchscreen."
Unfortunately the Irish spec had no option of the 10" screen AVN in 2019

innrain

Cold fast (50kW Sandyford triple) charging Kona gen1 2019
Outside temp 3°C Battery temp 3/4°C. Starting SOC 20%
I'm using EVNotify which displays 3 temps Min/Max and Inlet

Charging starts a 20kW and stays there until Inlet temperature reaches 20°C then jumps to 40kW where it stays while the battery warms up. Lastly it jumps to 46/47 kW when the battery pack is getting close to 20°C. From there pretty much constant. Unfortunately 45 mins were not enough to reach 75% point where Kona normally limits the charging speed.
Overall I charged a bit over 32 kWh which is 5 kWh less that the peak value I was able to charge in 45 mins. This translates to about 30 km less or expressed in time 6 minutes slower as compared to the peak values. Or better 86.5% max charging speed.
It will be interesting to do the 150 kW comparison summer/winter but unfortunately I have no such unit nearby.

innrain

innrain wrote: »

The facelift was announced. Hopefully it will keep the premium specs, which got missing here previously.

It looks better and that hideous plastic everywhere is gone, or at least painted lol.

Shame the charging speed is still slow, 47 mins to 80% on a "100 kw charger"

mp3guy

Looks like we're all getting new batteries https://electrek.co/2021/02/17/hyundai-reportedly-set-to-replace-kona-lg-batteries-in-korea/

innrain

Yeah that is a bit unclear. It is unclear where are they going to do the replacement and for which market. Some report that they consider just Korea for the moment considering there were reported 16 fires from which 11 where in SK. It is strange enough that they can't replicate the fires and pinpoint to the problem. That is shaking the confidence that they know what are they doing.

slave1

innrain wrote: »

Yeah that is a bit unclear. It is unclear where are they going to do the replacement and for which market. Some report that they consider just Korea for the moment considering there were reported 16 fires from which 11 where in SK. It is strange enough that they can't replicate the fires and pinpoint to the problem. That is shaking the confidence that they know what are they doing.

If it's serious enough for them to replace all batteries in one market then they would be in serious trouble if not replacing all batteries in all markets, the replacement is open admission there is an issue.
Same with Tesla MCU replacement, US first then worldwide.

Smee_Again

The BBC are reporting that there was an earlier fix designed to correct the issue, does anyone know the reference for this recall?

mp3guy

Smee_Again wrote: »

The BBC are reporting that there was an earlier fix designed to correct the issue, does anyone know the reference for this recall?

That fix updated the BMS to tighten the tolerances on cell voltage difference, so people's cars would throw up an error before it went on fire. It was a stop gap allowing Hyundai a chance to analyse batteries on their way out. Word on the street is that it's faulty separators.

10-10-20

I got that notification in the post in early January from Hyundai Ireland and I had the car updated last week.

The letter itself may as well have said "...we have to update the software thing that does battery stuff because we think it might do things and stuff to prevent other negative things and stuff".

I was well unimpressed with the communicative effort. I know they're under NDA's and such but it read like they had no confidence in whatever the hell they semi-thought it was supposed to fix.

Smee_Again

mp3guy wrote: »

That fix updated the BMS to tighten the tolerances on cell voltage difference, so people's cars would throw up an error before it went on fire. It was a stop gap allowing Hyundai a chance to analyse batteries on their way out. Word on the street is that it's faulty separators.

So is it a fair assumption that if I received a recall notice on the battery already my car is likely affected by this too?

Basically wondering if I'm in the queue for a new battery.

innrain

Smee_Again wrote: »

The BBC are reporting that there was an earlier fix designed to correct the issue, does anyone know the reference for this recall?

My last one from December 14th had reference 01D012 and referred to ESP(Electric Stability Program) Upgrade.
It seems it is getting closer to an announcement
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hyundai-motor-electric-recall-idUKKBN2AO0JS
The last bit there "Kona and Ioniq owners are advised to limit battery charging to 90% of capacity until the battery has been replaced, Hyundai said." should probably be written in bold.

mp3guy

Smee_Again wrote: »

So is it a fair assumption that if I received a recall notice on the battery already my car is likely affected by this too?

Basically wondering if I'm in the queue for a new battery.

Yes.

Smee_Again

innrain wrote: »

My last one from December 14th had reference 01D012 and referred to ESP(Electric Stability Program) Upgrade.
It seems it is getting closer to an announcement
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hyundai-motor-electric-recall-idUKKBN2AO0JS
The last bit there "Kona and Ioniq owners are advised to limit battery charging to 90% of capacity until the battery has been replaced, Hyundai said." should probably be written in bold.

Thanks, I got that one too.

I also got 01D076 from November and I'm wondering if this is the same issue (it would appear to be) because the defect is...

Certain cells of the high-voltage lithium-ion battery could be
defective and the battery management system control
software could be faulty. As a result, an electrical short circuit
can occur after fully charging the Li-ion battery, increasing the
risk of fire

KCross

innrain wrote: »

My last one from December 14th had reference 01D012 and referred to ESP(Electric Stability Program) Upgrade.
It seems it is getting closer to an announcement
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hyundai-motor-electric-recall-idUKKBN2AO0JS
The last bit there "Kona and Ioniq owners are advised to limit battery charging to 90% of capacity until the battery has been replaced, Hyundai said." should probably be written in bold.

Covering their arses in full flight here...

LG Energy Solution, a division of LG Chem Ltd which manufactures the batteries, was quick to deflect criticism.

It said in a statement that Hyundai misapplied LG’s suggestions for fast-charging logic in the battery management system, adding the battery cell should not be seen as the direct cause of the fire risks.

Goes to show how important the BMS and charging profiles are for the current Li-ion technology.

Getting to high charge states and rates is not a simple thing and has significant risks.

EV manufacturers across the industry will be watching very closely as LG Chem are not some minor twobit player in the market. This is a really bad news story.

Irishjg

I wonder how long it will take for Hyundai Ireland to start informing owners what their plans are. Will they offer a buyback scheme in certain circumstances. Effectively now the cars are unsellable.

mp3guy

Irishjg wrote: »

I wonder how long it will take for Hyundai Ireland to start informing owners what their plans are. Will they offer a buyback scheme in certain circumstances. Effectively now the cars are unsellable.

Perfectly sellable, arguably more valuable with fresh batteries

Irishjg

mp3guy wrote: »

Perfectly sellable, arguably more valuable with fresh batteries

I have my doubts. It didn’t fare too well for Bolt owners in the US. Also the fresh batteries may not offer similar performance in terms of range, a big selling point for some of the Hyundai EVs. For instance the new battery may only have 55kwh available for top end charging rather than the original 64kwh available. Also charging speeds probably will be reduced.

liamog

Irishjg wrote: »

I have my doubts. It didn’t fare too well for Bolt owners in the US. Also the fresh batteries may not offer similar performance in terms of range, a big selling point for some of the Hyundai EVs. For instance the new battery may only have 55kwh available for top end charging rather than the original 64kwh available. Also charging speeds probably will be reduced.

Any replacement will have to meet the original specifications, you won't end up with a battery pack smaller than the original without significant compensation.

Irishjg

I have no doubt the packs will remain the same size at 67kwh as per the existing units. Once the replacements are installed it will be easy to calculate what’s actually available. We’ll know for sure in time. I’m only guessing and relating to previous instances. I hope you are correct rather than me.

oceanfroggie

Don't see any problem here. Honourable company have announced that they will replace the entire battery packs. They've bet their future on BEV so can't end up with a VW diesel gate sized scandle. Happy Days. It may take 6 to 9 months as they have 82,000 vehicles do recall and replace the batteries, but owners can rest easy. In the mean time recommended to charge to 90% for added peace of mind. Some car with 500km range in summer and 400km in winter with all the heating on.

Kramer

oceanfroggie wrote: »

Some car with 500km range in summer and 400km in winter with all the heating on.

& with the added possibility of spontaneously combusting, in your driveway .

Irishjg

Is there anything official from Hyundai Ireland regarding the planned battery recall/replacements. Has any Hyundai EV driver received any notifications on the matter. Will Hyundai Ireland consider requests by owners of a product buyback from disgruntled owners. I haven’t seen any mention of the proposed battery replacements on the Hyundai Ireland website but it’s very badly laid out so maybe there is a section hidden in a background page.