e-Niro Sightings

C'ville here. Don't get to Richmond very often, though that could change once EV Richmond group has meetups again . . .

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We took the Kona to a drive-in last weekend. Other than the BMS nagging me to start the engine every once in a while, the car was great. The sound came over the FM radio, so I needed a minimal amount of stuff on just to keep that going, and it was cool enough that nobody was trying to run their engines for the whole movie. Most people brought folding chairs and sat behind their cars.

They even had kids on roller skates coming by to sell you food. They went old-school.

 

My wife and I are drive-in fans, have been there several times each year. We normally leave the car turned on during the movie and throw a beach towel across the dash (when we are inside the car, as we also have lounge chairs for using in front of the car when the weather is good), and for the last couple years when I had the Bolt I would have to put it into gear and then back to park once during the movie as the car would shut off after 2 hours of sitting in park. The Niro doesn't have this limitation, and you can leave it on and it doesn't use much HVB at all.

 

The trick for us was to figure out the right "mode" to be in. Turning the car off worked for a bit, but it eventually wanted to turn off the radio because it thought that it just got left on. "Starting" the car on would also turn on the DRL - that wasn't a good plan. Turning on the ignition without "starting" seemed to be the best compromise in terms of not having any lights on and yet being able to leave the radio on. Every 5 minutes the BMS would nag me about the 12V battery running down - I just ignored those messages.

But without the ignition in the "on" position, none of the lights on the pushbuttons were illuminated, so I had to guess where the buttons for the climate control were.

 

Then there's Utility Mode . . .

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Before our first visit of the season I noticed that the DRLs were on and searched here on the forum and found it somewhere, that engaging the parking brake will turn off those DRLs. And so I went there confidently for the first movie trip, and during their opening announcements they tell everyone that many cars have DRLs other always-on lights these days, and that engaging the parking brake will turn them off and that applies to just about all of today's car models.

 

Utility mode is definitely the right answer if you're going to be sitting in the car for a long time without fully turning it on. No nagging. Full climate control. It will also keep charging your 12V battery and run all systems from the main traction battery DC/DC converter.

 

I had forgotten about utility mode, or as Bjorn calls it "camping mode". Oh, well - next time.

 

I live in SF and I normally take the bus before the shelter in place business but I also have the white Niro EV. I just don't see Kia or Hyundai EVs on the road. I was out on a drive in western Marin County and saw a bunch of Model 3s which are so common in the Bay Area. The other day I was sandwiched front and rear by two Model Xs on 101. I guess they were just having a look at my Unicorn.

 

I'm a Kona Electric owner and I'm on vacation in Colorado.. Saw an eNiro here near Broomfield/CO.. Forum member?
I made sure it was a all electric and not a Hybrid.. Chargeport door in front and badge said ECO Electric..

 

I saw a white Niro EV the mirror image of mine in Poulsbo, WA over the weekend. I don't believe the driver saw me, though. I was on my way to Sonic for some tater tots.