[hkollar]

After a long hesitation, took a test drive of Kona today. It is a wonderful car to drive, loaded with tech. Rear seats were uncomfortable to get in and out as well as sit for long. Driver seat wasn't so bad.

Surprisingly, I didn't find ride quality too harsh. May be it requires a very bad road to be of concern. But indeed, one has to be a bit more watchful going over those bumps. Low ground clearance is still a concern.

[pkirwadi]

Just received delivery of my new Level 2 Fast AC charger from BrightBlu. This one comes with an industrial connector that has a 3 pin socket and can connect to a single phase point. Was able to pull in 7.2kW consistently.

[hkollar]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

I would say, Kona is comparable to top end Creta or Seltos which has on road price of ~19 to 20 lakhs. Its automatic without the worries of DCT in Seltos. For the people whose major driving is in cities, the fuel/electricity bill can be 1/8th of petrol automatic Creta or Seltos.

Kona has less space than Creta or Seltos inside. I do wish Hyundai had manages a little more space in the rear seat and a bit more ground clearance for the atrocious humps & bad roads of India.

Any properly power EV driving experience is so much better than a ICE, there is no comparison. And Kona driving experience is even better than some high performance luxury cars.

Cost of energy/fuel is not a decision criteria right now for buying electric. It is sheer novelty, refinement, pleasure of driving that should drive this buying decision. Range is a good criteria, and Kona has adequate range, though I wish they also had the option of the bigger battery that's offered in other countries. But, perhaps they wanted to keep price on check.

My biggest gripe remains - Rear passengers won't be happy on longish drives. Front two passengers may be ok.

[ADI7YAK]

Originally Posted by mohanphadnis

Moral of the story:-
Kona will easily do Pune-Mumbai-Pune runs at a decent speed on single charge. Not so apprehensive about the car anymore

Saw EXICOM chargers at Khalapur food plaza (right after the toll) but sadly none of them were in working condition and petrol pump attendant had no idea by what time will they be functional. Though the charger said "Fast Charger" I couldn't find the exact specifications of it.Attaching pic of the same.

PS : Couldn't find a more appropriate thread to post this into,hence posting it here.

[hkollar]

A very fascinating thread on Twitter by Akhil Krishnan, who did 380km drive from Bangalore to Coimbatore on a single charge of Kona.

Near 400Km with 40kwh (units) of power - i.e. at less than Rs.300.


via Threadreader:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...735931392.html

[Kannan]

Originally Posted by hkollar

A very fascinating thread on Twitter by Akhil Krishnan, who did 380km drive from Bangalore to Coimbatore on a single charge of Kona.

Near 400Km with 40kwh (units) of power - i.e. at less than Rs.300.


via Threadreader:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...735931392.html

Thanks for sharing, I saw similar article today, it's gives confidence on usage of EV for highway.

I travel between Chennai and Bangalore and also Bangalore and Coimbatore.
Having fast charging stations at Chittoor, Vellore, Krishnagiri, Salem & Avinashi bypasses should boost the usage and purchasing of EVs for people who travel in these routes.

Same should be the case for people travelling from Chennai to Trichy and Chennai to Coimbatore. Fast charging stations at Viluppuram, Salem, Avinashi, Perambalur bypasses should help.

Even having fast charging stations at few fuel bunks in the highway can boost the confidence. Then even EV's like Nexon EV should be capable of intercity travel with fewer charging stops.

I always take a 30 minutes brake every 2 hours or 150KMs and having charging stations around those distances should be good enough I believe.

[hkollar]

Originally Posted by Kannan

Even having fast charging stations at few fuel bunks in the highway can boost the confidence. Then even EV's like Nexon EV should be capable of intercity travel with fewer charging stops.

I always take a 30 minutes brake every 2 hours or 150KMs and having charging stations around those distances should be good enough I believe.

I'd have blindly gone for Kona, if it had a bit more ground clearance. We have a Honda City in family, and my sister is sick of it's bottom scraping ways... Ride being stiff also is a problem, but not as much as the ground clearance.

We have way too many unscientific humps and pretty bad, dug up roads in Bangalore. I don't want to be hesitating each few hundred meters.

I am counting on Nexon being capable of intercity travel with about 150km range at 80% charge. It usually takes about 2.5hrs to cover 150km, and a good time for a pit stop and a coffee break. The worry is 1hr to get back to 80%

So, after a lot of thought, i decided to sacrifice the range for better ride. Not too sure it is right decision. For next 2-3years, with charging stations not being available on highways, it won't be easy to take out a Nexon on highway.

But Kona, with it's range, is far more confidence inspiring. You are bound to come across a major town/city every 250km, where you will get fast chargers by the end of this year.

[Kannan]

Originally Posted by hkollar

I'd have blindly gone for Kona, if it had a bit more ground clearance. We have a Honda City in family, and my sister is sick of it's bottom scraping ways... Ride being stiff also is a problem, but not as much as the ground clearance.

We have way too many unscientific humps and pretty bad, dug up roads in Bangalore. I don't want to be hesitating each few hundred meters.

I am counting on Nexon being capable of intercity travel with about 150km range at 80% charge. It usually takes about 2.5hrs to cover 150km, and a good time for a pit stop and a coffee break. The worry is 1hr to get back to 80%

So, after a lot of thought, i decided to sacrifice the range for better ride. Not too sure it is right decision. For next 2-3years, with charging stations not being available on highways, it won't be easy to take out a Nexon on highway.

But Kona, with it's range, is far more confidence inspiring. You are bound to come across a major town/city every 250km, where you will get fast chargers by the end of this year.

I belive you made the right choice in getting Nexon EV. From what I heard, government is pushing the fuel bunks to have a charging station, so the situation should improve in coming months.

Also I heard that CCD allows customer to charge their cars, if that's true, then may be you can utilize if one is available on the route you take.

[NannuBhai]

Booked my Kona a week back. Expecting delivery around Holi (10th March). Planning to take it to Mumbai the immediate weekend (14-March). Thank you to all your posts, as it gives me an idea, how to approach the drive to mumbai.

I'll be travelling from Mulshi Road, Pune via Chandani Chowk to Chembur, Mumbai & back home to Pune in the evening. Any fast charging EV stations along the route? (50kw and/or 7.2kw)? Even if I can charge for sometime, say an hour, and top up an additional 100 odd kms would be sufficient.

Anyone with any hints / tips, I'll be ever grateful.

[NannuBhai]

Originally Posted by NannuBhai

Booked my Kona a week back. Expecting delivery around Holi (10th March). Planning to take it to Mumbai the immediate weekend (14-March). Thank you to all your posts, as it gives me an idea, how to approach the drive to mumbai.

I'll be travelling from Mulshi Road, Pune via Chandani Chowk to Chembur, Mumbai & back home to Pune in the evening. Any fast charging EV stations along the route? (50kw and/or 7.2kw)? Even if I can charge for sometime, say an hour, and top up an additional 100 odd kms would be sufficient.

Anyone with any hints / tips, I'll be ever grateful.

Quick update to all of you EV Owners in and around Mumbai & Pune.

I accidentally landed up dialling the co-founder of Magenta Power Company (ChargeGrid is their Brand name). The co-founder Maxson Lewis, was kind enough to discuss & talk to me about the various charging points and also his plans. I just wanted to spread the good word around for all you EV Owners, based on my discussion with him:

• Magenta Power is a Govt of India approved company for setting up charging stations.
• Magenta Power has a few charging stations in and around Mumbai.
• They are planning more stations in Pune as well.
• But their priority is Lonavala, as it would help commuters between the 2 cities.
• HPCL is an investor in their company. So, I expect to see a few charging stations set up in & around HPCL's.
• In fact, they are also trying to wrap up the discussion with Hyundai for Kona.
• They have a charging station along the expressway right after the Lonavala exit bridge ends (while driving from Pune to Mumbai).
• However, right now, it only supports the various Mahindra EV's like Tigor & Verito. Not yet for the likes of Kona & ZS. For us, we'll have to use the 16 AMP socket to charge up.
• This is about to change in about 10 odd days from today. They should have a 50 KW CCS TYPE 2 charger ready.
• This should certainly help us.
• After Lonavala, the plan is to expand here in Pune, then going down further South along the Bangalore route.
• I did ask him to do something for the Goa route.
• He also has plans for down south as well.

All in all, things are shaping up pretty well and is starting to look good. I hope his tie-up with Hyundai works out well, as it would mean, we don't have to be overly stingy / have range anxiety - about our rides to/from Mumbai / Pune.

Long run, it would also mean we would have a better support network on highways, away from cities.

I wish the very best to Maxson & his team and hope he's able to set up a good support network along major routes....at least between Mumbai & Pune to begin with. I hope this piece of information is useful for everyone here.

Now, I'm eagerly looking forward to my Kona and to my drive to Mumbai on Kona and juicing it up on the 50KW fast charger at Lonavala.

EDIT: Just remembered, they have plans for Hyderabad and Chandigarh as well!!!

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[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by NannuBhai

Booked my Kona a week back. Expecting delivery around Holi (10th March). Planning to take it to Mumbai the immediate weekend (14-March). Thank you to all your posts, as it gives me an idea, how to approach the drive to mumbai.

I'll be travelling from Mulshi Road, Pune via Chandani Chowk to Chembur, Mumbai & back home to Pune in the evening.

Congratulations!

Saw a "charging station" board in Lonavla. It's right after that first hotel after the exit. Note: only saw the board, didn't spot the charger

[NannuBhai]

I hope the 50 kw charger is somewhere around there....soon!!

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by NannuBhai

Booked my Kona a week back. Expecting delivery around Holi (10th March). Planning to take it to Mumbai the immediate weekend (14-March). Thank you to all your posts, as it gives me an idea, how to approach the drive to mumbai.

I'll be travelling from Mulshi Road, Pune via Chandani Chowk to Chembur, Mumbai & back home to Pune in the evening. Any fast charging EV stations along the route? (50kw and/or 7.2kw)? Even if I can charge for sometime, say an hour, and top up an additional 100 odd kms would be sufficient.

Anyone with any hints / tips, I'll be ever grateful.

Check if there are any Tata Power or Tata Motors outlets on your route and if they have chargers installed. This work was going on at all these outlets last I heard and they should be CCS2 and fast chargers.

[ADI7YAK]

Originally Posted by NannuBhai

Anyone with any hints / tips, I'll be ever grateful.

Congratulations on your new Kona! Is it a black car? I saw a black Kona recently at the Shankarseth Road showroom. As for the charging, have you applied for a new connection at MSEDCL? Apparently they do have a separate tariff for EV charging station and it does require a new connection. You should also ask for a Time of Day meter to get benefits of off peak hour charging rates.(around ₹1.5/unit discount)
Attaching screengrab of the PDF.

[wheelguy]

2020 Hyundai Kona Electric Drive Range Increased To 484 Kms

The 2020 Hyundai Kona EV for the European market will be offering a considerable increase in its overall drive range. From existing 449 km, the drive range of Kona EV on full charge has now been increased to 484 km. This is as per the WLTP (Worldwide harmonised Light vehicle Test Program) driving cycle. However, only the top-end variant variant equipped with 64 kWh battery pack and 204 hp electric motor will benefit from the range boost.

The Kona EV that is on sale in India employs a 39.2 kWh battery pack which supports a 136 hp electric motor. This powertrain configuration is not likely to receive any significant changes in the new model year. In its current form, the Kona EV for India has an ARAI rated range of 452 km on a full charge.

Coming back to the Europe-specc 2020 Hyundai Kona EV, the automaker has not revealed how exactly the range extension has been achieved. It is believed that Hyundai has undertaken several efficiency enhancing measures including a tyres with lower rolling resistance than before to achieve the range boost. The powertrain hardware appears to be carried forward without any changes.

Source