[Motoringlover]

Great review guys, now given there parts of the battery which can be seen from below. Given our roads in Bangalore do require we literally are swimming in the rains, how does this do when one has to go through significant water clogged roads, given there is no air intake, but how does one deal with battery and puddle of water. Any thoughts ?

[Warwithwheels]

Excellent review! Was seriously considering the KONA to get the early adopter of EV tag. However after reading about the ground clearance, it is definitely gonna be a deal breaker because of two reasons:

1. Constant fear of getting the battery pack scrapped when going over an unscientific speed breaker.

2. Driving thru' flooded roads with the battery pack underneath and placed so low.

What is the water wading rating of these cars? With no air intake or tail pipe does it have a higher water wading capacity? With the monsoons approaching soon, would be prudent to know about this while deciding on the car.

[gururajrv]

Well, like most of bhpians raised a concern here on taking the car on water clogged roads, how will the car manage the water wading process? I’m hoping we will have to treat it like any other electrical items, wherein if it’s wet, we wait for the sun to pop up the next day and allow it to dry

As in, most of the electrical items act cranky after they’re exposed to water and at times pose a threat of electrocution too. How is it going to be handled? Since this is an international product I’m sure Hyundai would’ve done all the prelim checks. But, India is a bit different with respect to road quality.

[fhdowntheline]

Fantastic review. With the right infrastructure,things will really change. I for one think that the charging infrastructure should be better managed by market forces than government intervention- govt should however, incentivise charger installation at regular petrol pumps by providing a subsidy or some other exemption. I foresee a separate “Team KWh “ subsection in the forum in the none too distant future!

[antz.bin]

I saw this car on the road yesterday evening, from the terrace of my 7 floor office building. And had no trouble recognising it even though I saw it for the very first time.

On paper the power output is very close to the Diesel Creta, I have never seen a Creta slice through traffic at such pace. I could observe this since it was an hour before rush hour starts so the traffic was still sparse.

Looked striking even from the angle I was looking at it from. This car will definitely make its presence felt in the roads. Much superior to the Golf Carts that we get in the name of EVs currently.

Mahindra and Tata can easily use their large car platforms (Harrier/XUV 500) to make proper premium EVs but still choose the Tigor and Nexon (and XUV 300?) instead for their EV testbeds which are doomed to fail. EVs require real estate (to accommodate more batteries) and tax bracket advantage (to be able to price competitively) to compete with contemporary cars.

Give yourself the best chance, maybe you will hit the home run.

[srini1785]

The first car review that i read through fully(almost) actually. Good job by @ChiragM and @Rehaan in order to come up with a detailed review. Ergonomics, aesthetics , ground clearance , settings , drive modes , charging etc are covered in good detail. However, i do feel that the budh international circuit is not a good place to test an EV. The one aspect that almost everyone looks for before buying is the range compliance. If the test ride was made in say a B2B traffic leading to a highway to test the actual and displayed range , it would , IMHO, complete a wonderful review. A flat bed tow truck on call , testing the EV to its fullest battery discharge would give prospective EV pilgrims the dangers they face while taking on the pilgrimage to EV City of the future.

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by gururajrv

Well, like most of bhpians raised a concern here on taking the car on water clogged roads, how will the car manage the water wading process? I’m hoping we will have to treat it like any other electrical items, wherein if it’s wet, we wait for the sun to pop up the next day and allow it to dry

As in, most of the electrical items act cranky after they’re exposed to water and at times pose a threat of electrocution too. How is it going to be handled? Since this is an international product I’m sure Hyundai would’ve done all the prelim checks. But, India is a bit different with respect to road quality.

I am sure that the battery is IP67 protected. This means protection against dust, water splashes ( direct and indirect) etc which would also cover the sockets and the cables leading up to the battery. I would not worry about electrocution. With all the insulation inside and non conducting paint for the body, there would be near to zero chances, unless , someone tries to mess directly with the battery / motor terminals while circuit is live. DC hurts you pretty bad than AC of same value.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by gururajrv

Well, like most of bhpians raised a concern here on taking the car on water clogged roads, how will the car manage the water wading process?

Originally Posted by srini1785

DC hurts you pretty bad than AC of same value.

Kona runs at 356V DC? Or something similar which is pretty high. Even though we can assume that insulation has been taken care of, this is surely a point to consider. For IC engine cars, water wading depth mentioned in specs is often the height of the air intake, in case of KONA if battery and wiring is insulated, water wading depth must be practically infinite(?) assuming the motor is submersible.

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Kona runs at 356V DC? Or something similar which is pretty high. Even though we can assume that insulation has been taken care of, this is surely a point to consider. For IC engine cars, water wading depth mentioned in specs is often the height of the air intake, in case of KONA if battery and wiring is insulated, water wading depth must be practically infinite(?) assuming the motor is submersible.

Submersible motors ( used for pumps ) have a totally different design and have direct wiring to terminals housed in a water proof chamber with water seals. Even for such a design , there a safe depth of operation. The motor of a EV, IMHO, would not be designed for submersible operation. Not to forget that messy things like tranny which come at a lower level.

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by srini1785

I am sure that the battery is IP67 protected. This means protection against dust, water splashes ( direct and indirect) etc which would also cover the sockets and the cables leading up to the battery. I would not worry about electrocution. With all the insulation inside and non conducting paint for the body, there would be near to zero chances, unless , someone tries to mess directly with the battery / motor terminals while circuit is live. DC hurts you pretty bad than AC of same value.

That brings us to the next question which is very pertinent to the Indian scenario.

I have been guilty of driving my SUV over not so fully extinguished fire sources like half burnt crackers, Diyas & Lanterns, pumkins with fire, remains of rituals with fire (the typcial stuff which they throw right in the middle of the streets). The higher ground clearance and the tucked away fuel tank gave me some guts to do that.

Will it be relatively safer to do so in a KONA with the battery pack underneath?

[padmrajravi]

Originally Posted by sharktale

+1 to your fuel comparison.

However, wouldn't a 8 year old EV also face the same situation of very low resale value?
The battery capacity would have been severely depleted by then with your usage, and AFAIK it won't be easy to swap the batteries like we did in olden times.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Agree with every line you said. Its correct & thats the way for the future. Just one clarification though. The Li-Ion battery will pretty much be well on its pyre by 8-9 years. A replacement one costs around 4-5 lakhs on an average if I'm not mistaken. So the resale values of an EV after that duration is also an unknown.

The reason I considered 8 years in my calculation is because Kona's battery warranty is for 8 years. I don't think Kona's battery will go down to zero recharging capacity on the first day of 9th year. So it should still fetch you some resale value.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

The reason I considered 8 years in my calculation is because Kona's battery warranty is for 8 years. I don't think Kona's battery will go down to zero recharging capacity on the first day of 9th year. So it should still fetch you some resale value.

Li-ion/Li-Po batteries continually degrade. Already by 8 years the power and capacity of the battery will be way lower than what was at delivery. The warranty will not cover that anyway as thats standard operating characteristic. Warranty will only cover total loss/failure due to some defect. I'm sure of it. So while the car won't be stranded on 1st day of 9th year, the customer sure has a big expense lined up in a matter of months. It surely will be a factor in the resale value. Thats what I feel. Only time will tell of course. I'm being impatient.

[Sankar]

Great review and much awaited, thanks! Aero flaps Utility mode, driver only AC mode is new to me, i had not yet read about these anywhere else! The underbody shots are nice, but at the same time worried about the battery hanging low. I wonder if there is an inbuilt bashplate for the battery pack, else not at all a comforting thought. It is hard to take the thought off the li-ion battery pack on an electric vehicle


Does anyone know the nittygritties of the insurance policy on an electric vehicle? If the insurance companies does not have a electric vehicle policy then they should think about rolling out one. Currently the lead acid battery of a vehicle is classified under plastics/rubber/paint category and calls for 50% depreciation. Does the same apply for an EV's Li-ion battery pack?

[vb-saan]

Great review, thanks for sharing!
One bit I did not like about the Electric Kona is the face. The lack of grille makes it almost looks like someone wearing a mask; at least they should have tried something different to break the monotony.

[coolkurt]

On the contrary, the lack of a grille is refreshing, makes it look different and stand out among the crowd. That, coupled with the green plates gives you bragging rights.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Li-ion/Li-Po batteries continually degrade. Already by 8 years the power and capacity of the battery will be way lower than what was at delivery.

Well, the Tesla batteries sure age well. The loss of battery health after 5 years was just around 10-15% but I'm unaware if the same kind of battery tech will make its way here. Deterioration of battery health will not be covered under the warranty of course, it'll come under normal wear and tear. Only total failure would warrant a replacement.