The first thing is the acceleration - it’s instant power when you hit the pedal. The thing just bolts off the line and there are no lulls for gear changes. Secondly, I feel like there is a good balance in the suspension feel. My previous cars were all pretty bare bones and you could really feel the road on every bump. But I also don’t like floating above the road like in some luxury vehicles. The Kona for me strikes a good balance between floating and back-breaking. And to be honest I think there is a psychological factor about zero emissions in play for me as well - I can hit that pedal and know that I’m not belching out a noxious cloud. I feel less guilty driving the car
I also really like the info screen/navigation/media console - helpful, well-designed, intuitive and versatile (i.e. integrates with Android Auto if you want or not). And the sound system is pretty solid.
Sorry, forgot this. Yes, I followed that very closely and we made sure with the dealer that our battery was not from that factory. So no recall for us, thankfully.
Glad to hear you are enjoying the Kona! The acceleration is still mind blowing for me, almost 2 years into owning my Kona.
FWIW I have been told that my car has the battery that is under the recall. We have to limit our target state of charge to 80% until the battery is replaced. Our dealer told me that Hyundai Canada is expecting to have all the batteries replaced by end of June. With close to 45,000 kms on the odometer, it’s like getting a major boost to the lifespan of my car.
My wife has a Nissan Leaf Plus and I my 2013 Ford CMax Energi plug in hybrid. Currently we live in a condo with a charger that we had installed in our parking spot and a free charger accessible in the parking garage across the street. We are moving back into a house with a free standing garage. It is not currently wired for more than 110. We have two level one cords.
Options.
We really could get by with the level ones. My car charges slowly overnight on it and would be “full” each day with my habit of plug in when I pull up. My wife currently only plugs in every third or fourth day on level 2, drives most days less than 40 some up to 50 or so, rarely significantly more, and just plugging in each time she pulls in would keep her adequately charged, rarely even getting down to 50% end of day.
Or wire for a single charging station. I leave early, unplug and plug her in. She doesn’t leave for several hours or more after me and charges at 25 miles of range an hour. That also would have her pretty fully charged each day.
Or splurge and get a dual attaching charging station like this one, for the convenience and future proofing being a two full BEV household.
And in either of those other two - talk through why a 220 outlet vs hardwiring.
The garage has a 15 amp circuit currently, nothing else on it but the door and the lights. I don’t think two cars charging at level one will be a problem …
Wife wants a new Tesla by July, so we went to the Tesla store last week. She wanted to know how they feel, and she wanted to confirm her preference for the Model Y over the Model 3. I went along, but she didn’t want me in the car during the test drive; she wanted no distractions. So instead of standing around, I test drove a Model 3. Both our test cars were Dual Motor Long Range models.
The only restrictions Tesla put on our drives was to not break any laws, and be back in under 30 minutes. We both returned very impressed. Quiet, super powerful, and simple controls. The Y has poor visibility toward the rear, though. She’ll be getting the Y.
I will replace my Premium gas-burning VW Golf with an EV, but it’s too soon, financially. In 2-3 years, I’ll be looking, and the Model 3 will be the one to beat.
For charging, I had 2 contractors give me estimates for two 30 amp outlets in the garage. Then I did some math, and realized that we’d probably never need to charge that fast. We’re going to stick with the 110 volt outlets and see how that goes.
IANA electric vehicle guy yet. But just speaking on the general topic of DIY home improvement decisions …
Overall ISTM that given the total expense & hassle of buying, selling, and moving house, “splurging” on dual charging seems like a basic bit of futureproofing rather than truly splurging.
In a condo you accept certain annoyances as inevitable, such as your wife charging across the street. In your own house in the convenience of your own enclosed cozy garage, soon enough playing musical charging cords will prove annoying. The first time you have a non-routine event and are caught with one car too discharged for the mission at hand you’ll spend more on Uber than the more capable charger would have cost you 3 years ago in 2021 when you moved in.
The only counterarguments I can see is if you don’t intend to stay in this house for long. Or if the technology and price of chargers is falling fast. In that case wiring the building for two, but buying just one now and juggling the cords until charger prices fall far enough to pay for the reduction in hassle.
I’d probably wire for a single 50 amp connection. The cost difference between adding a 30 and a 50 will be small if you have adequate power coming into the house. Then, charge the EV with level 2 and the hybrid with level 1. If you replace the hybrid with another EV, then you can add a second charger to the same 50 amp circuit, and still simultaneously charge both cars at 20 amps.
There is currently a federal tax rebate for installing charging infrastructure. That includes wiring and charging hardware. Expect to get back about 1/3 of the cost on your taxes next year. That may affect your decision on plug vs. a hard wired adapter.
As mentioned by @LivingGhost371 , a single 15 amp circuit only has 12 amps available for continuous use. How you use that 12 amps is up to you, so if the cars have a way to limit their draw to 6 amps, you could charge them both simultaneously. In my garage the 110 outlets are spread across two circuits. You should verify the layout, because if you have two 110 circuits available then you might be good.
Also verify any 110 outlets in the garage don’t share a circuit with outlets in the house that may be used by high demand appliances. No fun to trip a breaker if the car is charging and you turn on the microwave.
The 3 does as well. Perhaps the Y is even worse. I’ve lost entire tailgating Miatas behind the 3.
If we have a non-routine event where an EV is too discharged for expected use, we wouldn’t get an Uber. We’d drive the depleted EV to a local fast charger, or we’d use the other car.
Also, there’s a drawback to fast charging: shorter battery life.
Any definitive answer as to whether or not this applies to level 2 fast as opposed to level 3 DC fast?
Also whether or not keeping not limiting the time near “100%” (obviously not really as the car prevents such) and aiming for more time in the say 30 to 80% charge range makes a difference?
I can’t point to any citations, unfortunately, but I have read and understood that as far as the battery is concerned, level 2 is not fast charging. A long range Model 3 has 4,416 cells in the battery. Each of those cells has roughly the capacity of an iPhone 12 Max battery.
For comparison, on the iPhone, fast charging is 20 watts. On the Model 3, level 2 charging at 32 amps and 240 volts, the most supported by the included mobile charger, is 7680 watts. That is about 1.75 watts per cell.
Compare that to a 250kW supercharger, which is 56 watts per cell. Even a “slow” 96kW supercharger is 22 watts per cell.
So, level 2 is essentially trickle charging.
However, the second generation Leaf only has 192 cells, which means that level 2 could be as much as 40 watts per cell. That may not be an issue, as they are much larger cells than the ones in the Model 3.
The “official” guidance from Tesla is that it is safe to charge to 90% all of the time. There is nothing to be saved by limiting charging to a lower amount. I say official in quotes though, because this is what has been offered in tweets and spoken communications, but is verified as that is the maximum charge in the “daily” category. Other battery chemistries may be different, and other manufacturers have different battery reserves, so Tesla’s rules may not apply.
I think the bottom line, is just go by whatever the owners manual says is safe.
As to whether you should get a Level 2 charger, it sounds like the Level 1 charging via a 110V outlet will work for now. I think you should add the Level 2 charger to the list of home improvements you need and want. If, for example, your washing machine is on its last legs, that’s probably a higher priority than the Level 2 charger. But perhaps you want landscape lighting but less than you want the Level 2 charger. So sort the list by priority.
So I’ve been Youtubing a bunch of reviews for the upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6. My plan was always with an eye to my next car being a Tesla but I’m starting to seriously reconsider that in light of the Ioniq. The feature set on it seems very well thought out and i like the interior set-up; a lot. I’m not sold on the side view cameras instead of wing mirrors but they are optional. Price wise it seems very competitive with the Model Y.
Right there with you. Just not ready to make the switch to driving an electrical appliance. I will reconsider when recharging is as effortless and fuss free as refueling.
