[mohanphadnis]

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

I think this notion of comparing cars of similar size is just plain wrong. Last i20 I saw missed out on basic features like illuminated window switches and vanity mirror lights. Let's not even discuss the pathetic build quality levels that Hyundai is known for with their made in India cars. i20 would probably score 2 star safety rating with an unstable body shell and in my opinion can in no way be compared with a Kona which is a CKD with 5 star Euro NCAP safety rating. This factor alone makes Kona worth Rs.10l+ extra. There are many more such discrepancies.

Not certain why folks dont compare a Polo GTi against a i10. Forget the features, kona is more refined than a 1.8 Octavia Tsi.

[Atul Kolekar]

Great post and a very detailed one. Thanks.

Hope this will help to change the way BHPians look at EV's forever.

The only difference for anyone looking to compare their own expectations with yours would be the high milage. That will make it a very different comparison for low milage users.

As a new Ola S1Pro owner, I'd like to know more about your charging habits in detail. I'm more worried about Ola's air cooled battery pack and 3 year warrantee. So far haven't noticed battery temperatures above 35 degrees. Does Kona allow you to schedule charge times and limits in advance?

[maddy42]

Amazing post and really eye opening. You have used your electric car the way it should be used. There is a lot of learning for any new buyer venturing into the electric world.

Another thing is there is a lot of naysayers and sceptics on electric vehicles too, comparisons which would never have been made to a traditional ICE vehicle.

Your return on investment is just two years out, with a saving of 12 lac, in another 80k kms you will have saved 24 lac

Impressed by the low degradation but am a little wary on the battery recall of Kona. Could the situation recur?

Maddy

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

Kona Electric at 80k kilometers - Cost of ownership

Greetings everyone! I have owned my Kona Electric for a little over 20 months and it recently completed 80 thousand kilometers. Here's a detailed cost breakup of owing and maintaining the car, as well as a rough calculation of how much money I have saved compared to a petrol automatic and a diesel automatic car of a similar size and price.

Thank you for sharing such a detailed break up of the expenses incurred on your EV. It truly helps many of us who are sitting on the fence, unsure to take the plunge from ICE to EV.

I had one query, how did you compute the Per day cost of Rs.337 ?
If I multiply your daily kms x your running cost, it doesnt seem to add up.
Kindly elaborate on how you arrived at that figure.

Thank you.

[ADI7YAK]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Impressed by the low degradation but am a little wary on the battery recall of Kona. Could the situation recur?

Maddy

I hope it does not!

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

I had one query, how did you compute the Per day cost of Rs.337 ?
If I multiply your daily kms x your running cost, it doesnt seem to add up.
Kindly elaborate on how you arrived at that figure.

Thank you.

Net Total of Rs 207131 divided by total days ie 614. I have added Maintenance cost as well. If we consider only electricity cost, it comes out to a paltry Rs ~140 for 130km traveled.

[Hawk4]

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

Here is a breakup of maintenance costs.
-Regular servicing usually costs Rs. 2.6k and only includes labour charges unless there is a part to be changed such as air filter in March 2022 or a small cornering light bulb which went kaput in June 2022.

-There was a manufacturing defect in factory provided "Nexen" branded tyre which was replaced under warranty. In fact, three of the tyres were replaced. One burst after hitting a pothole and other two had bulges.

-Two of steering bolts were replaced under warranty quite early in the ownership.

-As stated above, highest expense so far is tyre replacement which costed a whopping Rs. 48k.

-Other items under "repairs" include denting (a coconut fell on the car) and wheel well plastic liner which broke and was replaced for Rs. 4.4k (exclusive of GST)

Attachment 2318001

Do you have any information on the price of Kona parts like bumpers, shocks, and other standard spares? Do these cost around the same as Creta? or being more expensive due to imports?

Another question is on service technicians knowledge about Kona in general? Do they have people who trained for EV's?

[ADI7YAK]

Originally Posted by Hawk4

Do you have any information on the price of Kona parts like bumpers, shocks, and other standard spares? Do these cost around the same as Creta? or being more expensive due to imports?

Sorry, no idea about part replacement costs since I haven’t had to replace anything with an upfront payment from my side. In fact, my car is getting front two wheel bearings replaced under warranty. This will be my last warranty claim as car has crossed 100k km mark and extended warranty has expired.

Originally Posted by Hawk4

Another question is on service technicians knowledge about Kona in general? Do they have people who trained for EV's?

My experience has been more than satisfactory at Kothari Hyundai Pune. Only one dealer and service centre is equipped to service Kona in Pune. Hyundai seems to have trained technicians for EVs. Heard they have special service bays exclusive for Kona as well, though I haven’t seen it myself.

[ADI7YAK]

Crossed the 6 digit number few days back. Here's a quick snapshot of overall expenses. Most recent service costed Rs 2600/-

[Hawk4]

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

Crossed the 6 digit number few days back.

Congratulations for reaching this new milestone in just 26 months. Your car will reach 160000 kms at this rate in another 12 to 15 months. We need to see how the battery performs after the warranty has expired.

My Kona arrived last week, and I've been learning everything there is to know about it.

Where can we find updates to the Kona firmware? Also did you check with anyone on possibility of enabling Hyundai Bluelink in Kona? I only miss this feature in Kona. This is available from the beginning in US and Europe models. We get same car but the feature was disabled.

[EV Fan]

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

Crossed the 6 digit number few days back. Here's a quick snapshot of overall expenses. Most recent service costed Rs 2600/-

@ADI7YAK - Congratulations, on the milestone.
Have been using your numbers to convince my relatives of an EV...
But just want to know if you have done any long trips with adults in rear. People 5'6" or taller? How bad or tolerable was it? I just love absolutely everything about the Kona except that dreaded rear seat. I am 5'10" & the knees up position made me just want to get out of the car immediately, kind of forced me to rethink how bad it may still be for 5'6" folks...

Originally Posted by Hawk4

My Kona arrived last week, and I've been learning everything there is to know about it.

Congratulations, please do share your buying experience.

[ADI7YAK]

Originally Posted by Hawk4

Congratulations for reaching this new milestone in just 26 months. Your car will reach 160000 kms at this rate in another 12 to 15 months. We need to see how the battery performs after the warranty has expired.

Thanks! My car's battery was changed at 65k km under global recall procedure. You can read more about it in the earlier posts. I think car should be absolutely fine till 2.2l km at the very least, but we shall see.

Originally Posted by Hawk4

Where can we find updates to the Kona firmware? Also did you check with anyone on possibility of enabling Hyundai Bluelink in Kona? I only miss this feature in Kona. This is available from the beginning in US and Europe models. We get same car but the feature was disabled.

I believe India spec. car missed out on a few features such as ADAS and sim connectivity. I don't think we even have the hardware to support BlueLink, which is a shame.

Originally Posted by EV Fan

@ADI7YAK - Congratulations, on the milestone.
Have been using your numbers to convince my relatives of an EV...
But just want to know if you have done any long trips with adults in rear. People 5'6" or taller? How bad or tolerable was it? I just love absolutely everything about the Kona except that dreaded rear seat. I am 5'10" & the knees up position made me just want to get out of the car immediately, kind of forced me to rethink how bad it may still be for 5'6" folks...


Congratulations, please do share your buying experience.

Thanks! My mum's 5'7" and she is "okay" in the backseats. Definitely not as comfortable as in our old car, a Tata Hexa, but not too bad either. At 5'10" things can get very uncomfortable on long distances. You could look at MG ZS EV which has AC vents and better legroom.

One more thing I forgot to mention was the auxiliary battery going kaput this Sunday when I was in Mumbai. Luckily enough, one of my friends had a jumper cable handy and so we had to jump start a super modern EV from a Mercedes from the 80s. Hilarious indeed.



Bought a brand new Exide battery the same day and all is fine now. Please ignore all the dust in motor bay.

[Hawk4]

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

Thanks! My car's battery was changed at 65k km under global recall procedure. You can read more about it in the earlier posts. I think car should be absolutely fine till 2.2l km at the very least, but we shall see.

Yeah. New battery should be good for atleast 1.5L km.

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

I believe India spec. car missed out on a few features such as ADAS and sim connectivity. I don't think we even have the hardware to support BlueLink, which is a shame.

Yes, Even in India Hyundai was offering bluelink since 2016 and Kona launched in 2019. I cant think of any reason why Hyundai missed it that too in EV. Its super useful to check the charging status and any issue during charging.

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

Bought a brand new Exide battery the same day and all is fine now. Please ignore all the dust in motor bay.

How old was this battery? Any indication to identify the battery health? In ICE we get to know by weak self start etc.

[Motoringlover]

Great thread - thanks for sharing the details. Given your high mileage usage - have you ever encountered different charging plugs - Or is there standard charging option for all EV's sold in India. I only ask as I see some charging point clearly labelled to a manufacturer. Appreciate a steer.

Thanks

[ADI7YAK]

Originally Posted by Hawk4

How old was this battery? Any indication to identify the battery health? In ICE we get to know by weak self start etc.

Battery was just as old as the car. 2 years and a couple months. No indication as such. Kona does charge the auxiliary battery while charging the main battery, but it wasn't holding a charge and so needed to be replaced.

Originally Posted by Motoringlover

Great thread - thanks for sharing the details. Given your high mileage usage - have you ever encountered different charging plugs - Or is there standard charging option for all EV's sold in India. I only ask as I see some charging point clearly labelled to a manufacturer. Appreciate a steer.

Thanks

All EVs in India use CCS2 charging plug and is pretty much a standard now. Old cars like E2O and old Tigor electric had different plugs. All fast DC chargers support CCS2 now.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by Eddy

That's a pleasant surprise. In my mind, range degradation as the battery undergoes 100s of charging cycles is a big unknown in the EV scenario. We don't want to be stuck with a car that can only do 60-70% of its original range after 40k kms.

Why would it undergo 100's of charging cycles if you arent driving much? 100 charging cycles even at a conservative 250km per cycle would mean 250,000 kms. Thats a lot of driving.