350 mile club..

ok

 

Let me clarify in the past I had a range of say 500kms estimate... I drive 400 actual kms and my estimate left was 100kms + left.... So basically my estimate is usually bang on or close enough to the plus side. I seem to be the lucky one here I don't have one issue with my Kona. It does everything expected of it.

 

Just saw this on the UK forum. Went 389 miles on his range test. Lots of interesting and useful data shown. Seems like our GOM is pretty accurate.

 

What is the typical range for majority interstate driving?

 

It really varies depending on season (cold in winter is bad), and how you drive. City driving is best, going fast on hwy is worst. Overall, from my experience EPA rating is pretty accurate, 258 miles. I am not a poky driver.

I will say that my car is better though, than my son's LR RWD Tesla M3. His EPA range is higher, but he never gets close to it, and consistently his actual range is less than his GOM. My Kona is the opposite. I think Hyundai was very conservative with their range specs. Tesla is the opposite.

 

Just took a 15 mile drive around town. Current temp is 90F and I got 5.6 miles/kwh with the AC blasting. Not too shabby...

 

Thanks. That’s really helpful to get an idea of what to expect

 

This is helpful too. If I could afford an EV now I’d probably be getting a Kona or Niro. Both seem like great cars.

 

Driving in mountains really reduces range, too, despite the great regen going down the hills. Can't go far where I live without being in the mountains.

 

Last time I looked at mine they were about 37 I think, same as the day I got the car, and I'm pretty sure that's the factory recommended setting. If you lower yours from 48, I'll be curious to know if you notice a difference in ride quality or handling. I'd be willing to boost mine a bit to get additional range. Even though I drive pretty conservatively and almost never use the AC (living in San Francisco helps with that), I've never had an indicated range above 284 with a full charge. Higher pressure should improve mileage, and I'd consider it if the trade-offs aren't bad.

 

I just raised mine today from 36 to 40 (cold) after you guys said it didn't change the ride quality. We'll see...

 

That sounds about right.

 

I usually keep m

I usually keep my AC at about 76 and my heat at 68. Still, the heat is a big hog. Wish we had the heat pumps as an option here.

 

I commute 80 miles round trip to work and back, some of it on surface streets with traffic lights, and about half on highway and freeway. Driving like I need to get to work I've managed to average around 3.8 mpkWh which equates to an absolute range of 243 miles. I have also managed to bump that up to around 4.2 by more aggressively managing regen on the surface streets, and I suspect, but have not yet proved, that there is a highway speed, running full regen, where the car will get higher efficiency than going slow. Of course this is all complicated by the need to run AC in the hot summer months whether I want to or not!
When I want to I can pretty much match the GOM range per charge - dropping below "4" on highway, and compensating by going up to and over "5" on the surface streets. Back when the car was new I put a lot of effort into seeing just how far it could go and ended up showing miles traveled + miles remaining being well over 330, but that's due to the efficiency of using coasting and regen combined to pump up the numbers on surface streets.
Of late I've spent more time enjoying the car's acceleration, and "catapulting" way out ahead of ICE cars when starting from a light. I know most so-called reviewers show the Kona's acceleration as rather tame, but C&D listed it as 6.4 sec to 60 which seems perfectly in-line with my car. The key is to turn off traction control and learn to "modulate" the accelerator pedal to push just to the point where the fronts slip, then hold until the car gets a bit more momentum, allowing the pedal to be added in firmly. In all the "TV" acceleration tests I've seen they jump floor it, read off the number and call it a day without regard for the fact that the car gives up a LOT of time due to tail squat, and wheel spin, and traction control. Whatever the posted numbers, in the real world the Kona leaves the line like it's been fired from a catapult and not even my previous car, a Dodge Charger RT had that kind of instant "go"! granted the more powerful ICE cars will overtake the Kona as their horsepower comes online, but in normal traffic light sprints, the only cars I've found that even challenge the Kona EV are Teslas, bolts, and newer "Leaves" (lol)! it's kind of embarrassing really, to take off like a scalded dog and be hundreds of yards (meters) down the road while the ICE cars are barely clearing the intersection, or to actually have them try and make a contest of it only to see the Kona leave them behind like last night's empty McDonald's wrappers! Some will say the other cars just aren't trying to beat mine, but I know many are, and the funny thing is that when a Land Rover owner gets dusted, they will absolutely go ANY speed to try and overtake and pass before slamming on the brakes! I normally ease off after delivering a good trouncing to the "ICE pack" and sure enough many are willing to exceed the posted speed by 20-30 mph just to prove they weren't beaten - even though they were.
Eventually I'd like to find someone to fabricate a set of traction bars that counter all that tail squat and keep more force on the fronts. I bet the Kona would easily bet close if not under 6 seconds and that's not shabby...and something very few ICE cars can do without being set up.