[pseudo_coder]

Originally Posted by DarthVeda

highway mileage for an EV would be less than city traffic, in city traffic, an EV would use regenerative braking to claw some of the energy back but in highway, there is less braking and more of constant acceleration. You might see a drop of few kilometers per each Kwh

On highway, it's not a constant acceleration but a constant speed. Which is the ideal condition for good efficiency. Regenerative breaking reduces the energy loss in breaking. Still there is a net loss every time you apply breaks. So not using the breaks will save that loss.

[fhdowntheline]

Hi Sheldon, congratulations on the new car. You and other EV owners are indeed in a niche ”kona” of your own! In terms of future maintenance viability, what’s the battery life expectancy? How much would it degrade in say 3-5 years? Does Hyundai offer any solutions around this?

[Guna]

Originally Posted by DarthVeda

highway mileage for an EV would be less than city traffic, in city traffic, an EV would use regenerative braking to claw some of the energy back but in highway, there is less braking and more of constant acceleration. You might see a drop of few kilometers per each Kwh

This is not correct. Every time the car slows down, it needs more power to propel back to a higher speed in a city driving, which requires more energy than during cruising. Regenerative system only recovers part of the energy which would have been lost during braking.

[sivasain]

Originally Posted by Guna

This is not correct. Every time the car slows down, it needs more power to propel back to a higher speed in a city driving, which requires more energy than during cruising. Regenerative system only recovers part of the energy which would have been lost during braking.

Electric Cars are unique in their efficiency curve. If you leave out loads like air-conditioning and just focus on drive train efficiency, the efficiency is higher at lower average speeds. Other uniqueness of electric cars is that the weight of the car does not matter much, because the extra energy spent in accelerating a heavier vehicle is mostly recovered in slowing down (not 100% but still).

the biggest consumer of energy is wind resistance, which is why at higher speeds the efficiency reduces.

[srini1785]

What is the price of the new battery pack and is there any comprehensive buy back policy in place for the battery?. The last time i checked, i did the calculations for per km charges for a Mahindra e2o and was pretty impressed. That's when i found out that the battery pack would last 5 years and replacement battery would be at 3.5 L or something and just did not make sense. I may be wrong on the figures quoted but i remember the cost were just about the same as a ICE car.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by sivasain

Other uniqueness of electric cars is that the weight of the car does not matter much, because the extra energy spent in accelerating a heavier vehicle is mostly recovered in slowing down (not 100% but still).

Weight of the car of course does matter. Forget about accelerating, heavier car needs more energy to even keep moving at a constant speed than a lighter car.
What you explained is a condition in a world without friction, gravitational force or wind resistance.

[speedmiester]

All 300 Kona cars earmarked for 2019 sold out.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/bu...73691.html/amp

[HK. Oby]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

All 300 Kona cars earmarked for 2019 sold out.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/bu...73691.html/amp

Seems to be the case. Just took a test drive today, and they said that if I book now, they will need 5-6 months for the car to be delivered. Also, as was given in the press before, it does not seem like the 60-minute 80% fast charging stations that were supposed to be set up in Hyundai dealerships throughout the country will not be coming any time soon. Hell, the SA was not even aware of it. So...plans of going cross-country with the Kona while having it topped up in dealerships in major cities is no longer viable.(I thought this was possible)

[Holyghost]

Originally Posted by srini1785

What is the price of the new battery pack and is there any comprehensive buy back policy in place for the battery?. The last time i checked, i did the calculations for per km charges for a Mahindra e2o and was pretty impressed. That's when i found out that the battery pack would last 5 years and replacement battery would be at 3.5 L or something and just did not make sense. I may be wrong on the figures quoted but i remember the cost were just about the same as a ICE car.

Why do you say the entire battery needs to be replaced after 5 years? I have seen loss of range around 5-10% after 5 years.
I do not know about Kona battery modules, but e2o has 16 prismatic batteries which can be replaced individually.

[docsr]

The Kona comes with a 8 year, 1.6Lakh km warranty for the battery. This does appear to be generous warranty and should cover the usual life of the car.

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by Holyghost

Why do you say the entire battery needs to be replaced after 5 years? I have seen loss of range around 5-10% after 5 years.
I do not know about Kona battery modules, but e2o has 16 prismatic batteries which can be replaced individually.

I had based my views on the following reviews :

http://www.forbesindia.com/blog/busi...e20-dont-work/


https://www.carwale.com/mahindra-car...reviews/44550/

I had also checked with the Mahindra showroom and they were also not sure if only one of battery in the pack can be replaced. If the car has a power management system, one that detects the terminal voltage/current of individual cells and would isolate cells that are bad and give indication, then it would be possible to replace a faulty cell. In the absence of such system, when two or more batteries are connected in series ( or parallel ), if one goes bad, it spoils the others too.

If what you find in internet is anything to go by, the Kona uses a 327V battery and must be a more stable design than the E20's.

Originally Posted by docsr

The Kona comes with a 8 year, 1.6Lakh km warranty for the battery. This does appear to be generous warranty and should cover the usual life of the car.

That should put the prospective buyers mind at rest. In spite of all the assurances of warranty etc, it would be nice to know from the point of view of long term ownership, the actual cost of the battery (pack).

I don't know if Lithium ion batteries lend themselves to repair.

[DarthVeda]

Originally Posted by HK. Oby

Seems to be the case. Just took a test drive today, and they said that if I book now, they will need 5-6 months for the car to be delivered. Also, as was given in the press before, it does not seem like the 60-minute 80% fast charging stations that were supposed to be set up in Hyundai dealerships throughout the country will not be coming any time soon. Hell, the SA was not even aware of it. So...plans of going cross-country with the Kona while having it topped up in dealerships in major cities is no longer viable.(I thought this was possible)

I had asked the SA at advaith Hyundai the same, he said they would need to apply for commercial license for high consumption and would be difficult to achieve it. This was for 100kw charging station that they were to setup.
Good to see that Kona is selling well, I am hoping they reduce the price further with the corporate tax reduction kicking in place, I was hoping to go for this car on Company lease.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

All 300 Kona cars earmarked for 2019 sold out.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/bu...73691.html/amp

A week old article claims 130 units shipped. Did numbers change that quickly?

https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...0-units-414217

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Did numbers change that quickly?

The numbers seem to line up.

The ACI article is talking about shipped units:

Even though Hyundai had dispatched 25 units of the Kona Electric to its select 15 dealerships across 11 cities in June to stock their inventory just before the launch, the carmaker shipped 17 cars in July and 88 more (its highest yet) in August to take the total sales tally of the electric crossover to 130 units in less than three months since its launch.

Whilst the MoneyControl one is talking about bookings (and mentions the same figure for shipped units as ACI):

We have received more than 300 bookings. Last month we did 88 wholesales. We are sold out for five months.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by sheldon.dz

I got a 320 Km after the delivery from the showroom until which i had to charge again. Plan to take it to Mumbai soon, so will get a highway number too.

You will need to charge it mid way Bangalore to Chennai.

Was it fully charged when you got the delivery or only partially charged like the new mobiles phones?
I have stared thinking about Kona. My native place is about 420 kilometers from Bangalore which I visit 2-3 times in a year and if the car can deliver the promised 450 km range even with an eco mode, Kona would be under consideration.