Battery Conditioning Power Consumption

I think @apu may know this better than myself but I don't think the Kona's battery heater operates at all when the car is simply parked, unlike a Bolt.

Irrespective of that detail, if you use one of the smartphone apps with an OBD2 dongle you could monitor the battery heater output. Or, use an energy monitor on the portable EVSE's power plug to measure kWh going in assuming the battery is prevented from charging.

 

I hear my forum moniker being invoked Laurie the answer to you question is based on several variables so not really easy to answer but lets try.
First off very cold ambient temperature is less important than the actual measured battery pack temperature, meaning if you have a garage or shelter for your Kona in the winter use it. The battery is a relatively large thermal mass and it can take as long as overnight in -30C ambient to have a significant effect. The default battery pack temperature before the BMS starts to care is around -17C, although I have seen the pack drop as low as -20C in -30C ambient weather. At that temperature vehicle charging from DC sources and power output to drive motor will be severely reduced and its possible to see turtle mode engaged at a relatively higher SOC and high energy drain conditions. If you have winter mode engaged and your car is plugged in to a 240V EVSE the battery heater will keep the battery in the 0-10C range when parked. The supplied 120V EVSE cannot provide this service as the actual battery heater rating is closer to 3Kw and the BMS will wait until a very low temp (again around -17C) before it starts to cannibalize it own battery for heat energy. How long does that battery heater run to keep minimum temperature requirements depends how long the car is parked and how cold the pack is but generally overnight probably less than a hour. If its plugged into a 240V EVSE with winter mode on probably 2+ hours in severe cold.

 

So, for those of us in the U.S. who didn't have a "winter mode" option on our Kona's...is there still some kind of BMS heating system? Temps in MA where I live frequently get into the -15° to -18° C range. I have an unheated garage that gets nearly as cold as the outdoors. I've never understood what I could do to soften the blow of hard cold temps on my car.

 

Without a "winter mode" suggest no battery heater so not really much you can do other than shelter your vehicle when it gets really cold. You will get some passive battery heating through the charging process and just driving.

It will self heat just enough to preserve itself if it gets cold enough even if not plugged in.

 

Living in Qc with severed cold this winter, I closely watch the battery with evnotify. I found that even below -20C, the heater hasn't heat up the battery. Kona was plug to charge it till 80% morning, and didn't go below 35% with my transportation need.
Winter mode was not activated on my dash console. Now, from what I read and saw on youtube, the winter mode was really more useful with very low SOC.

So far, I hasn't activated it. Will try next year to switch it on and see if i really does something in my case.

 

Having it plugged into a 240V EVSE and having winter mode on will definitely keep the battery much warmer, plus winter mode activates the battery heater when you are DC charging and allows for much quicker DC charging when its really cold. When your paying for electricity by the minute you really notice.

 

Resurrecting this thread for a quick question. I'm in New England, where we get our share of
"Canadian" weather sometimes in winter, and of course being in the US we don't get the battery
heater. There are lots of horror stories, or at least scary theory, around charging a frozen lithium
battery, even a little bit. What are peoples' experiences trying to charge a "cold soaked" pack,
at either L2 or CCS rates, without being able to warm it first?

Thinking ahead a little, now that it's fall..

_H*

 

There is really no battery heater in US model?
I suspected that it is missing a heat pump, but not a classical PTC heater element for the battery.

Anyway, Kona has a NMC battery which can charge and be used also in quite cold weather.
More problematic are LFP batteries which have big issues with charging below freezeing point. Tesla uses those and i suspect it also heats them up.

 

I bought a 2022 Kona EV (SEL) a couple months ago in the US. It has a battery heater. The sticker that was on the car shows the heater was part of a convenience package that included other things like heated front seats, power sunroof, seat adjustments, etc. The software in the car also lets me turn Winter Mode on or off...another indication of a battery heater.