Our first EV kona
Discussion
Hi
So I thought I would share my thoughts on here , seeing as It was probably you lot that actually got me thinking about buying an EV after reading so many forums and thoughts of others .
It seems like there are many people who will hate EV's no matter what
People who dont want to change
Others
And then people like me ?!
The wife wanted a newer car she had owned her Lexus 250 for 10 yrs and it was a one owner 20,000 mile car when she got it .I steered her to the Lexus brand as I always had jap cars and loved the Lexus brand and what it stood for to me then ( quality great customer service ultra reliable etc etc ) .
It had served us really well yet around 4 yrs ago wife wants something newer and more modern .
I did my research and found I was tempted by EV's but very unsure .
I put things off and a few yrs ticked by until now and I couldnt put it off any more .
I could instal a charger on my drive and praps an EV was the way to go , every one or two yr old petrol car just didnt seem to offer as much as an EV .
I narrowed it down to a Hyundai kona or Ionic 5 , we wanted as new as possible , but also as we were paying outright also wanted to hopefully try to not take a massive hit on deprecation , which will obwously happen anyway .
We took a 23 plate Ionic 5 out and then a 23 plate Kona out , as much as we loved the Ionic 5 the extra cost was pushing our budget a bit to much .
After a few more weeks we found a Kona at what seemed like a good price 23 plate one owner 17000 miles direct from a Hyundai dealer with the option of extra warrenty for £17000 .
So we brought it and our first taste of range anxiety was on the 130 mile trip home !
The dealer had fully charged it and safely to say we made it back home with 100 miles left , super happy with that .
We got the charger installed the next day and had it around 2 weeks now .
Wife loves it and all its gadgets , I love it and it drives so nice and it just works and is relaxing .
The only fault I can really say is the boot is a bit small but fine for us and the heating seems erm not quite as hot as our old car , but I think we just need to get used to a different way and just try to pre heat the cabin before we set off .
I am super happy and thank you all on here for your open discussions on EV's and whatever side or camp you are on .
I can not see us going back now and think they will only keep improving , for us the charging is easy we set it to charge through the charger app and then just use the car app for pre heating unlocking etc and our energy supplier ( Scottish power gives us a rate of 7p per kwh from 12midnight to 5 am
which is ample for us .
Cheers everyone and thanks again
So I thought I would share my thoughts on here , seeing as It was probably you lot that actually got me thinking about buying an EV after reading so many forums and thoughts of others .
It seems like there are many people who will hate EV's no matter what
People who dont want to change
Others
And then people like me ?!
The wife wanted a newer car she had owned her Lexus 250 for 10 yrs and it was a one owner 20,000 mile car when she got it .I steered her to the Lexus brand as I always had jap cars and loved the Lexus brand and what it stood for to me then ( quality great customer service ultra reliable etc etc ) .
It had served us really well yet around 4 yrs ago wife wants something newer and more modern .
I did my research and found I was tempted by EV's but very unsure .
I put things off and a few yrs ticked by until now and I couldnt put it off any more .
I could instal a charger on my drive and praps an EV was the way to go , every one or two yr old petrol car just didnt seem to offer as much as an EV .
I narrowed it down to a Hyundai kona or Ionic 5 , we wanted as new as possible , but also as we were paying outright also wanted to hopefully try to not take a massive hit on deprecation , which will obwously happen anyway .
We took a 23 plate Ionic 5 out and then a 23 plate Kona out , as much as we loved the Ionic 5 the extra cost was pushing our budget a bit to much .
After a few more weeks we found a Kona at what seemed like a good price 23 plate one owner 17000 miles direct from a Hyundai dealer with the option of extra warrenty for £17000 .
So we brought it and our first taste of range anxiety was on the 130 mile trip home !
The dealer had fully charged it and safely to say we made it back home with 100 miles left , super happy with that .
We got the charger installed the next day and had it around 2 weeks now .
Wife loves it and all its gadgets , I love it and it drives so nice and it just works and is relaxing .
The only fault I can really say is the boot is a bit small but fine for us and the heating seems erm not quite as hot as our old car , but I think we just need to get used to a different way and just try to pre heat the cabin before we set off .
I am super happy and thank you all on here for your open discussions on EV's and whatever side or camp you are on .
I can not see us going back now and think they will only keep improving , for us the charging is easy we set it to charge through the charger app and then just use the car app for pre heating unlocking etc and our energy supplier ( Scottish power gives us a rate of 7p per kwh from 12midnight to 5 am
which is ample for us .
Cheers everyone and thanks again
Petrolhead67 said:
I am super happy and thank you all on here for your open discussions on EV's and whatever side or camp you are on
Username doesn't check out! 
Seriously, as long as you have off road charging, an EV is a no brainer for a daily driver these days,
especially if you are willing to buy used to sidestep the initial depreciation.
Thanks PBCD
This is the issue though hey , Im sure we can be both .
Dont get me wrong I still love a fast motorbike or a big loud V8 rumble and any form of motor racing .
But for day to day use and especially the wife she more concerned about dash lights and heated stearing wheels etc , plus
from what im told we charged it up from 50% to 100% and it cost £3.70
This is the issue though hey , Im sure we can be both .
Dont get me wrong I still love a fast motorbike or a big loud V8 rumble and any form of motor racing .
But for day to day use and especially the wife she more concerned about dash lights and heated stearing wheels etc , plus
from what im told we charged it up from 50% to 100% and it cost £3.70
I've been called an EVangelist a number of times on this forum, but in the end most EV drivers on here have other cars as well, or at the very least are just "converts".
Glad to see you get on with it! I always liken the move to going from a manual to an automatic, then from an automatic to an EV in terms of ease of driving.
This is definitely a thing with EV's although they've become better at it. The issue of course is that there isn't a 150kg lump of metal in the front getting exceedingly hot. When first shopping for a "shopping trolley" EV, I was stumped at how many early Zoe came without heater, it makes you realize that in very cheap ICE, it's just a byproduct of the engine getting hot, not really an extra.
Pre-heating is a good compensation, also usually a lot of EV's come with heated seats, maybe even steering wheel, they expect you to rely more on that.
Glad to see you get on with it! I always liken the move to going from a manual to an automatic, then from an automatic to an EV in terms of ease of driving.
Petrolhead67 said:
... the heating seems erm not quite as hot as our old car , but I think we just need to get used to a different way and just try to pre heat the cabin before we set off .
This is definitely a thing with EV's although they've become better at it. The issue of course is that there isn't a 150kg lump of metal in the front getting exceedingly hot. When first shopping for a "shopping trolley" EV, I was stumped at how many early Zoe came without heater, it makes you realize that in very cheap ICE, it's just a byproduct of the engine getting hot, not really an extra.
Pre-heating is a good compensation, also usually a lot of EV's come with heated seats, maybe even steering wheel, they expect you to rely more on that.
It's having a heat pump that makes EVs quicker to warm up, and more efficient at it. My Honda eNy1 doesn't have one so unless I pre-condition the car (which on mine requires it has to be plugged into an external supply 
), it's a coat required in winter for several miles.
Even with the a/c set to hot, it takes a couple of minutes for any hot air to arrive, like turning on a 1 bar fire I suppose. The a/c in summer is excellent and doesn't affect range nearly as much.
), it's a coat required in winter for several miles. Even with the a/c set to hot, it takes a couple of minutes for any hot air to arrive, like turning on a 1 bar fire I suppose. The a/c in summer is excellent and doesn't affect range nearly as much.
Cheers for replies guys , glad it’s not just me with the thoughts on the heating , it funny I didn’t see any posts or topic on that when I started looking .
Like you say suppose it a lot easier to get heat in to the cabin when you got a very hot engine and near boiling water running around it hey .
Yes you’re definitely right about going from a manual to auto , wife loved that and now she loves it even more with the auto hold button .
Like you say suppose it a lot easier to get heat in to the cabin when you got a very hot engine and near boiling water running around it hey .
Yes you’re definitely right about going from a manual to auto , wife loved that and now she loves it even more with the auto hold button .
Cheers for replies guys , glad it’s not just me with the thoughts on the heating , it funny I didn’t see any posts or topic on that when I started looking .
Like you say suppose it a lot easier to get heat in to the cabin when you got a very hot engine and near boiling water running around it hey .
Yes you’re definitely right about going from a manual to auto , wife loved that and now she loves it even more with the auto hold button .
Like you say suppose it a lot easier to get heat in to the cabin when you got a very hot engine and near boiling water running around it hey .
Yes you’re definitely right about going from a manual to auto , wife loved that and now she loves it even more with the auto hold button .
Sorry to bump an old thread but on the heating issue OP, do you always find it warm enough after pre heating or is it still a bit chilly on cold days?
Seriously thinking about a 24 plate Kona but struggling to see if they all have a heat pump or if it's only some trim levels that have it.
Seriously thinking about a 24 plate Kona but struggling to see if they all have a heat pump or if it's only some trim levels that have it.
Bighoose said:
Sorry to bump an old thread but on the heating issue OP, do you always find it warm enough after pre heating or is it still a bit chilly on cold days?
Seriously thinking about a 24 plate Kona but struggling to see if they all have a heat pump or if it's only some trim levels that have it.
you really dont need a heat pump in england it just doesnt get cold enough, resistive heaters are instant heatSeriously thinking about a 24 plate Kona but struggling to see if they all have a heat pump or if it's only some trim levels that have it.
Bighoose said:
Sorry to bump an old thread but on the heating issue OP, do you always find it warm enough after pre heating or is it still a bit chilly on cold days?
Seriously thinking about a 24 plate Kona but struggling to see if they all have a heat pump or if it's only some trim levels that have it.
All the Gen2 Konas have heat pumps. The basic spec Advance models don't have heated seats / steerinh wheel as standard - they're optional, part of the Comfort pack.Seriously thinking about a 24 plate Kona but struggling to see if they all have a heat pump or if it's only some trim levels that have it.
Daughter has a 74 plate Ultimate - I drove it the other day and it was too warm, she had the heating set on 22. On 20 it was fine for me. Mild weather though. She drove it through last winter and never commented about it being cold - she did comment about how good it was getting into a warm car at 7AM.
sixor8 said:
It's having a heat pump that makes EVs quicker to warm up, and more efficient at it. My Honda eNy1 doesn't have one so unless I pre-condition the car (which on mine requires it has to be plugged into an external supply ), it's a coat required in winter for several miles.
Even with the a/c set to hot, it takes a couple of minutes for any hot air to arrive, like turning on a 1 bar fire I suppose. The a/c in summer is excellent and doesn't affect range nearly as much.
Hi Sixor8, we have an e:Ny1 as well, one of the cheap PCPs from last year. ), it's a coat required in winter for several miles. Even with the a/c set to hot, it takes a couple of minutes for any hot air to arrive, like turning on a 1 bar fire I suppose. The a/c in summer is excellent and doesn't affect range nearly as much.
When I preconditioned the car last winter I never had it plugged in, curious why you have to...
I find the a/c and heating take about the same amount out of the range for us, had a couple of 200+ miles roundtrips to Wembley for concerts - Oasis etc, and had to have the heating/air con off and just the heated seats on.... it was that or charging at midnight on a Sunday night/Monday morning when you just want to get home to bed...
66HFM said:
Hi Sixor8, we have an e:Ny1 as well, one of the cheap PCPs from last year.
When I preconditioned the car last winter I never had it plugged in, curious why you have to...
I find the a/c and heating take about the same amount out of the range for us, had a couple of 200+ miles roundtrips to Wembley for concerts - Oasis etc, and had to have the heating/air con off and just the heated seats on.... it was that or charging at midnight on a Sunday night/Monday morning when you just want to get home to bed...
When I try to turn on pre conditioning through the app, it tells me the car has to be plugged in. Perhaps I don't have a option selected correctly. When I preconditioned the car last winter I never had it plugged in, curious why you have to...
I find the a/c and heating take about the same amount out of the range for us, had a couple of 200+ miles roundtrips to Wembley for concerts - Oasis etc, and had to have the heating/air con off and just the heated seats on.... it was that or charging at midnight on a Sunday night/Monday morning when you just want to get home to bed...
0As for the idea that resistive heating is instant, it just isn't. Even if you set the temp to 10C above current, it's nothing more than a tepid flow after a couple of minutes. As mentioned before, nowhere near as the hot air you can get from an ICE.
If you turn the A/C on and the ambient temp is below required (heating), you'll note the displayed range drops by 20%. If it's cold air required, it only drops by 5%. Both are a guess really, because once it's to the required temperature, I find it doesn't affect range all that much, it just doesn't ever get proper hot!
My updated thoughts
Yes for me the actual heating that comes out of the vents is nowhere near as good as an ice car . I feel the cold and kind of want a nice blast of hot air from the vent on to my body or face . It does warm up but just takes longer and is just like air con units really a more steady warmish air that will slowly get to temp .
But yes we can pre heat it and do and the heated seats and stearing wheel work really well and quickly the seats even go up your back which I really like .
The wife loves it still and all our fears have disappeared and it now just becoming our main car that just works for what we want and is super smooth and a nice place to be .
Range does go down a bit now it coming in to winter , but it no issue , we just plug it in at home for its nighttime feed when needed .
Overall I’m still super happy we made the jump
Yes for me the actual heating that comes out of the vents is nowhere near as good as an ice car . I feel the cold and kind of want a nice blast of hot air from the vent on to my body or face . It does warm up but just takes longer and is just like air con units really a more steady warmish air that will slowly get to temp .
But yes we can pre heat it and do and the heated seats and stearing wheel work really well and quickly the seats even go up your back which I really like .
The wife loves it still and all our fears have disappeared and it now just becoming our main car that just works for what we want and is super smooth and a nice place to be .
Range does go down a bit now it coming in to winter , but it no issue , we just plug it in at home for its nighttime feed when needed .
Overall I’m still super happy we made the jump
Petrolhead67 said:
My updated thoughts
Yes for me the actual heating that comes out of the vents is nowhere near as good as an ice car . I feel the cold and kind of want a nice blast of hot air from the vent on to my body or face . It does warm up but just takes longer and is just like air con units really a more steady warmish air that will slowly get to temp .
But yes we can pre heat it and do and the heated seats and stearing wheel work really well and quickly the seats even go up your back which I really like .
The wife loves it still and all our fears have disappeared and it now just becoming our main car that just works for what we want and is super smooth and a nice place to be .
Range does go down a bit now it coming in to winter , but it no issue , we just plug it in at home for its nighttime feed when needed .
Overall I m still super happy we made the jump
We too have made the switch to a cheap Kona EV and as a petrol head it didn’t make sense initially, I have a weekend/summer vehicle (992 GTS) wife has a 2 litre Formentor for family duties and the Kona. Yes for me the actual heating that comes out of the vents is nowhere near as good as an ice car . I feel the cold and kind of want a nice blast of hot air from the vent on to my body or face . It does warm up but just takes longer and is just like air con units really a more steady warmish air that will slowly get to temp .
But yes we can pre heat it and do and the heated seats and stearing wheel work really well and quickly the seats even go up your back which I really like .
The wife loves it still and all our fears have disappeared and it now just becoming our main car that just works for what we want and is super smooth and a nice place to be .
Range does go down a bit now it coming in to winter , but it no issue , we just plug it in at home for its nighttime feed when needed .
Overall I m still super happy we made the jump
So far impressed we charge it once a week for around £5 overnight, we have solar panels and batteries so some of the cost is offset.
A little trick I learnt with the heating is have it in drive mode normal as opposed to eco, apparently that diverts energy more to heat when you switch it on.
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