60,000 km with a Hyundai Kona EV: Overall running costs & experience

EV’s in general are easier and predictable, to drive, than any automatic ICE.

BHPian EV Fan recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Since, we already have quite a few owners who have provided detailed reviews and ownership experiences on the car, especially related to the operating expenses. So, a fair heads up – i will be reinforcing their experiences, with a bit more figures.

Drive & Ride Experience

EV’s in general are easier and predictable, to drive, than any automatic ICE. The one pedal driving adds a layer of safety and convenience that ICE vehicles cannot match. The Kona’s felt just a notch better than the other EV’s at that time.

Key features:

Kona specific – Hyundai had taken quite a lot of stuff that EV’s do good and made it so much more better with the Kona

• In all other EV’s i had to tune myself to the car’s offerings/limitations but not with the Kona The car literally feels as if it was built around the driver (and driver alone).
  I can fine tune every aspect of the car – Acceleration, regen braking, Drive modes, paddle shifters, steering, name it and it might have it. I keep playing around, based on what my mood dictates.
• Hyundai provided Varying Charging Rates – It has a tuning aspect for even the charging, the Wattage can be set to 1 of 3 options (Maximum, Reduced and Minimum) from the vehicle’s Infotainment. The best part – the portable charger has additional setting rates of 12, 10 and 8 Amperes. That means the Kona can charge from wattage rating of as low as 800Watts (lower than the likes of induction cooktops, iron boxes etc).
  I have charged it off from the 5A plug point, using a 5A to 15A adapter.
  Yes, it might take days to charge completely but this feature is meant for small top ups in dire emergencies or manage load for homes with low contracted load/wiring- it just opens up a whole lot more charging venues.
• Energy Consumption Screen & Efficiency Calculation – Makes experimenting a whole lot fun when i can see the results real time and accurately. The km/KWh reading in the Kona seems to be quite mature/accurate , even as the terrain varied across the trip.
• Ventilated Seats – Cannot do without this now, thanks partly due to the leather seats that Hyundai gave in the first place.

Applicable to all EV’s

• One Pedal Driving, the signature true EV advantage – Appreciated by everyone, who got the feel of it. Setting on one pedal driving, the vehicle seems so much more in control. This is engine braking at the best.
  The regenerative braking control on the accelerator pedal means no more juggling around with the 3 pedals. The vehicle is already braking before my foot goes from accelerator to the brake pedal.
  My brake pedal looks shiny and untouched compared to the accelerator pedal or the paddle shifters on the steering wheel.
• A Seamless automatic – No more tuning the driving style to the gear ratios or the rpm band of the engine or the clutch. Basically no gear or clutch computations – the likes of downshifting, up-shifting, rpm planning. The inbuilt quality of an EV, they free up the brain bandwidth and are truly a blessing in heavy traffic.
  Can it help reduce the road rage if everyone had an EV in traffic?
  Smooth as DSG’s, DCT’s, CVT’s? I think now the question should be smooth as EV’s?
• Adds Charge (“Like Magic” as a kid remarked) – Regen especially when coming down ghats/hill. Show me any ICE or Hybrid which has more fuel at the bottom, than what it started out with, at the top of the hill.
  Yes, it takes more charge to go up in an EV but so do the ICE’s when climbing up, yet no reclaiming the fossil fuel going back down.
• No vibrations/NVH – All EV’s just seem so peaceful and less tiring, compared to driving an ICE. This can only be realized after driving a few months of only EV (completely off an ICE), and then one fine day going back on to an ICE.
• Cost of running – Quite a lot is already said on that. I have included brief stats down below for anyone interested.

Nothing can have pros all around, there are always some “CON”cerns:
Kona specific – Why Hyundai, Why

• Battery Cooling System – Requires me to ensure DCFC happens on a monthly basis even if i don’t need to. This was explained in detail in this thread. Achilles whole
  Unfortunately, that is something i got to know only after my purchase else would have tested at the time of inspection. But no, it had not been documented well enough, till i ended up as the guniea pig. Fortunately my nomadic indulgences mean, i usually end up doing DCFC’s quite often.
• Ground Clearance – The Kona had the ground clearance of a sedan. I got reminded of that once and have been managing it well enough after that. Though i must admit, mine has seen quite a few tough stretches, as i go about exploring wilderness and offbeat places (No i do not mean technical off-road, just the occasional one wheel hanging in air or using the front camera for path-finding missions akin to the Mars Rover).
• Co passenger and Rear Passenger comfort – They put all the good things for the driver seat and reduced everything for all the other seats. Makes it glaringly evident, that this car was designed only with the driver in mind, rest all should manage quietly.
• Leather Seats – I want fabric seats, but the seat ventilation & side airbags, means it’s not happening without possible serious consequence.
• Hyundai dumbed down the Kona that was given to India. Internationally it had HUD, auto headlight dimming feature and selection of the MID readout display settings independent of the Drive Modes. So many other desired customization’s that were removed, some of them only on the software.
  These were all available in International Kona but it never made it to India. And yes, this one is an absolute rant against Hyundai.
• Kona and the V2V/V2L – The existing Kona has some form of V2V demonstrated by Hyundai itself, then why doesn’t Hyundai provide it when everyone does.
  Kona Electric V2V
• No 64Kwh, no facelift, no Gen 2 for India- Why?

Applicable to all EV’s

• Technological Dependence – It is not possible to do long EV journey’s without a smart phone and without apps, especially the god of all “EV apps” – the mighty “PLUGSHARE”. Anything wrong with the phone or the apps and the stars can quickly line up to make the trip with an EV, a disaster. I have had situations where i helped other EV owners to charge their car with my account.
  And this can be especially bothersome for a person who is not technologically inclined.
• Route planning – Now, this can be somewhat a detrimental factor if the charging infrastructure is poor. But here in South India the charging infrastructure is already quite good enough. I need more breaks than what the Kona needs for charging.
  On an average the Kona with my driving style requires a charging stop at 200-250 kms with sufficient buffer to not even give a hint of range anxiety. But on an average i end up taking breaks at 150-200 kms especially since i am driving solo and at the same time cannot afford to be tired at the end of my journey.
  Never found this a concern as i used to do this even before, for food/restrooms. Now the focus has just shifted to charging + food.
  But hopefully the way more eateries are adding charging infrastructure this should be a thing of past.
• The still expanding service network – Not all the service centers can support EV’s and the one’s that can are spread far apart. Far away from major cities, we can have a service center (of the same dealership) literally at walking distance but would end up having to go to a service center 100km away for the required EV support. God forbid if it that service center does not meet expectations, because that would mean going a few hundred more km’s before we get to the next EV service center.
• Suspension & Ride quality – Something that all EV’s are facing to some extent. Even with underinflated tires the suspension seems somewhat stiffer than an ICE with overinflated tires. I don’t know about other but i got accustomed to it now(just get occasionally reminded when i end up in an ICE).
• High Upfront cost? – Yes, most EV’s are being priced close to the top trims of their ICE counterparts and yet the long list of ICE’s trim features cannot beat, what that Electric Drivetrain automatically brings in. I am happy to pay that extra premium or rather drop to a lower segment EV hatchback than picking a base variant of ICE.

Finally the Numbers

Note: Figures are only with soft compound tires like Michelin Primacy and Continental UC6. I have purposefully omitted figures with low rolling resistance stock tires, as these were giving 20+% better results while seriously sacrificing grip/traction and riding characteristics. (I did maintain another thread if anyone was interested on those numbers Efficiency Obsessed Driving )

And importantly, I am quite a sedate driver. Example of my timings(including city bottlenecks):

Chengannur – Bangalore is around 14.5 hours, Bangalore – Hyderabad around 10 hours, Chengannur – Ernakulam 2.25 hours, Chengannur – Trivandrum 2.25 hours and so on.

Folks who have done these journeys can now understand how i drive.