I was going to add this to one of the "things I like about my Kona EV" threads, but thought the dog mode thing might merit a separate thread because I had found a fair bit of conflicting info when researching it. First, though, regarding what I call "ferry mode". Being on Vancouver Island, and having family on the mainland, we go back and forth relatively often. During Covid, we've been staying in the car for the ferry trip and keeping the heat on. And we've learned that you really don't take that much of a hit on range. For example, about a month ago we left at 7:30 am and got back at midnight. One ferry each way. Total of 300 km travelled and got home with 30 km left. Screen showed 20 kwh per 100 km for the whole day - not bad for winter even without all the parked time. It ranged from about -2 C to +2 C all day. The car (and heat) was on the whole time except for about one hour. We left it on while waiting for ferries (total about 2 hours) and while on the ferries (total about 3 hours) and to keep the dog warm while at my brother's place (about 3 hours). For the dog, we used what I'm calling "dog mode" because as opposed to just leaving the car on, we could lock the doors and safely leave her on the street. It's "utility mode" in Kona-speak and probably uses the same amount of battery as leaving the car on but you can lock the doors. To use it: - use the menu buttons on the steering wheel to put the car in "utility mode" - set the heat (or AC in summer), turn off headlights, tune radio to your dog's favourite station - lock the doors with the button on the driver's door - open the driver's door, get out, ignore the beep saying the fob isn't in the car, and lock the door using the physical key from the fob - optional is using something to cover the light coming from the dash and screen - then use the physical key to get back in when you return - to get out of utility mode, stop and then re-start the car Note that pressing the fob or having it near the car will not open the doors when in utility mode. However, if you have the fob on you, you can open the trunk (but it can't be opened once you move the fob away). Some instructions I saw about how to safely leave a dog in the car involved leaving the fob in the car - but this way is better and I've used it several times now, so I know it works. Hope this helps someone. And Happy New Year!
Love the dog mode, my dog doesn't handle heat well. When I walk my dog in the summer when its super hot I leave the AC running in utility mode so the car isn't a sauna when we get back to it.
I used the climate control on the BC Ferry to Nanaimo 2 weeks ago. It was -14C so I really appreciated having the warmth. Minimal impact on range Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
I just discovered the lock-all-doors-and-then-use-the-hard-key trick too... I used to do a similar thing in the Prius, but the way that worked was that the hard-key from outside would also fire all the other door solenoids the same direction, so it didn't need the extra step of locking everything from inside before getting out. Even with the Kona and lack of "engine warmup cycle" penalty there *are* times I want to leave it powered up but secured. _H*
Great tip. But I can only lock all doors with the driver's button when in drive mode. So I have to do that first. Then switch to "Utility-mode".
