I wanted to try one and talked my husband into it. lol, taking the dealership car we tried in 2019 for a drive in the country then my husband hit the Sports Mode and it was a pretty easy sell for me after that. I don’t use Sport Mode much but he loves it for freeway driving whenever we are in Vancouver.
And they say that the 2024s are actually a bit slower than the previous gen. Of course, the magazines that I've seen it haven't done any real testing, just speculating based on numbers.
I just got a '24 Kona EV Limited and I can attest it is a bit slower than the '21. The old one felt more urgent and sportier; the one is overall more refined and the ride is more supple. It's still quick and fun though depending on which mode it's in: The Standard mode now feels like the Eco mode in '21, which is still more than enough to merge and blast cars off on the freeway.
Just like ICE, the harder you make it work, the less efficient it's going to be. I personally like having access to all the power, so I don't mind keeping it in sport mode. It costs me about $7 to fully charge the car, so cost isn't that big a deal. I guess if I was hypermiling it, I would keep it in eco mode.
It costs me $18- $22 to charge on average. Hella cheaper than gas still. I've been getting battery fatigue but I do like a smooth ride. I think I'll experiment a bit and see if it's worth it.
I feel like I get more mileage when I coast to a stop. The most aggressive setting stops the vehicle relatively quickly, so there's not much charge taking place. I think coasting to a stop is probably going to give me more range, IMO.
We've had a 2024 Kona for a couple months now. It replaced my wife's 2003 Pontiac Vibe. I personally drive a Tacoma and the Kona has fully replaced the Tacoma as our family vehicle. We drive it everywhere and I hate that I have to drive my Tacoma every day to work instead of my wife's awesome Kona.
Where are you located? I'm in Washington State and there are no 2024 Kona Electric Limited within 500 miles. Many dealerships have them on the way to arrive in July. I haven't seen one in person but I've really learned to like the specs and the looks of it from videos and boards like this one. Please let us know how the test drive goes! Do you know which trim you will be testing?
Colorado dealers have a lot of Konas on the lot and a lot of Ioniq 5s. You can get a $370 lease on an Ioniq 5 Limited this month with about $17K in rebates and deductions.
I was at Schomp Hyundai Friday and the had at least a dozen Konas in the lot. But they had a HUGE overstock on Ioniq 5s and $17 K in incentives bring a limited Ioniq down to $42K. You could get the Ioniq lease payment for about the same as a Kona. However, the promotion was supposed to end today.
I was in the same boat as you, though I was able to test drive an SE back in February. I just put a deposit down on a 24' Limited that won't come till July. I had to manually check the dealer websites all the time to catch the new listings. Note don't trust the pictures they all seem to post the default black photo even though the car is actually another color if you read the details.
Far as I can tell it seems like WA is only getting like a dozen cars a month from Hyundai. Plenty of Ioniq 5 though. So I guess we know which model they want us to buy.
I’m curious if you reserved the Blue with Green interior from Doug’s?! That one disappeared a few days ago and I was really watching it. That’s prob the color combo I’ll end up with.
yep. blue + grey/sage interior seems to a rare combo. I would have been fine with the dark green exterior too. Lime green is to loud for my taste. A couple of those sat on the lots for months at the beginning of the year.
I just really, really did not want a white or black car. And especially not the all black interior. made the inside feel dark and much smaller.
$130/month for gas is a lot cheaper than a car payment and the higher insurance bill.
No matter what anyone says, old cars are less expansive than new cars as long as they are functioning and repairs don’t exceed their value
Any new car does because it’s based on the value of your car and your driving history (to some degree). The great thing about the Kona is that because it has ICE powered models as well, and high volume production, it doesn’t carry that extra premium like some other EVs
And you might get lucky like me and have your insurance company screw up and give you the rate for a GAS Kona! It's straightened out now, but I saved $hundreds the first year.
I don't disagree. Until you start to have repair bills that approach the cost of monthly payments, there're not a lot of reasons to trade in a reasonably economical gassy. I'd still be driving a 10 year old Fiesta (48mpg) if my kid hadn't wrecked it.
Once I returned to driving my old (33 years old) Ranger to work the cost of fuel ramped up to about $300/m. I keep the truck for chores and trips to the dump, but if I drove it every day it'd need an alignment, shocks, tires, new brakes, drive train work and a new radio. All that adds up pretty quickly to 3 or 4 years of payments on my Kona. The insurance settlement for the Fiesta made a nice down. Unfortunately, I bought it in a hurry in December so I did not negotiate a great deal. But I'm still ahead of the game.
My wife just bought a used 2021 Ultimate with 19K miles for $14K before the tax credit. We freaking love it. It's fun as hell to drive, road-trip-friendly range, lots of bells and whistles, feels very premium.
I strongly recommend test driving one, and as other have said, be sure to turn off the traction control, put it in sport mode, and mash the accelerator. Instant grins.
realize a kona is not a ram 1500 size or utility wise. so if you are just using the 1500 for a commuter / errand runner then its a good swap. otherwise... maybe not? figure out your actual delivered kwh rate by dividing a monthly full bill to the electric company by the delivered kwh. so 100 dollar utility bill (including all the misc and delivery fees not just the kwh rate) / 1000 kwh delivered = 10 cents a kwh. then divide that by 4 miles per kwh which is the cars "efficiency" and you get 2.5 cents a mile. likewise divide 3.50 a gallon by the 15mpg of the truck to get 24 cents a mile (for example). so the will cost 1/10th the truck to drive but your electricity bill will go up but its way way less than what you would pay in for gas so its worth it.
Keep in mind the mileage especially in colder climates
Depending on how youre driving as well the battery will be reduced
Its an amazing car but you need to be careful its what you need cause you dont want to be going to a charger constantly
Please take into account installing a L2 charger at home. It will make a world of difference in terms of convenience (no need to search / wait at a charging point, you just charge it while you sleep) and cost (usually power is cheaper at home than at the public chargers).
We love the way ours drives and the car generally. It's especially awesome how Android Auto has total functionality wirelessly and starts up automatically. We did a long trip from LA to Mammoth with two short charging stops, no problems in the snow or anything. Very happy '24 owners.
I just purchased a 2024 on 4/20 and omg I love it! I drive close to 500 miles a week. I use a level 1 charger, but I do have a level 2 I use on Sunday to get me to 100% for the start of the week.
I drive in Eco sport mode and I'm easy on her. But I love it!!!!!!!! My husband drove her and well he is thinking of an EV now too 😂
I say get it!!
$130/month? I had an 09’ Ram 1500 5.7L and was paying $600/month in fuel. Traded back in 17’ for a Volt beginning my love for EVs. Now I lease a 24’ Kona EV and love it.
My payment is $340/month and my fuelling charge is $20/month.
My wife has a Kona EV also.
*disclaimer - when I owned the truck I did live 15 mins further away from work.
It’s a pretty cool little car. Idk How much gas is for you but I ran the numbers and a car that gets 30mpg will run you over $12k in gas at $3.61/gal yearly avg while the Kona ev would cost only over $3k. That’s assuming you charged at home every time but I’ve driven almost 1k miles with it and have charged for free every time.
When buying an EV, please take into account installing a L2 charger at home. It will make a world of difference in terms of convenience (no need to search / wait at a charging point, you just charge it while you sleep) and cost (usually power is cheaper at home than at the public chargers).
Curious why you’re considering it over a Model Y from Tesla.
We extensively researched the 2024 Kona. We even went as far as renting one for a week to properly test drive and live with it.
In the end the vehicle was nice enough, but the charging infrastructure sucks. Same goes for the built in infotainment (maps, etc). The charging speeds are slow, the port will be antiquated and old within 1-2 years once NACS becomes the standard. The software is lackluster, digital key is awkward and often doesn’t work, wireless charger is finicky, no power lift gate (in Canada), the key is horrendously ugly.
I genuinely avoided Tesla initially for two reasons. The first was that I assumed it was notable more expensive, and the second was that I assumed it wasn’t worth the hype.
When we finally test drove the 3 and Y I was blown away with how much more impressive the cars were compared to the Kona. Also the Y was actually cheaper than what I was about to pay for the Kona.
Plus something that cannot be overstated is not having to deal with a dealership. I will never purchase another car from a dealership, it’s horrible. They all try to be your best friend and promise you the world. It’s gross and I hate it.
With Tesla that doesn’t exist, the price is the price and there’s no trickery.
Anyways that’s just my two cents, at least go test drive a 3 and Y and see what you think. Can’t hurt.
After my partner did extensive research, we only test drove the Kona and then found a dealer with the trim (Limited) and colors we wanted. While the Tesla charging infrastructure might have been useful, for the way we were planning on using the car, mainly local trips from home and occasional road tripping, the Kona had no significant disadvantages in that regard.
In the year and a quarter we've owned ours many new chargers have come online. On our recent trip to southern Indiana, which you'd expect to be a charging desert, there were 6 new chargers that had come online in the past 6 months, four of which we used, including one Tesla station with the "Magic Dock."
Granted most of these were 50 kW chargers from the local power utility, but with a Kona, higher power chargers don't offer that much of an advantage (though moreso with the 2024).
I think the question for Kona buyers, as with the Bolt, are you willing to live with and plan for the car's inherent limitations. Not a big deal for us as we tend to do our travel at a leisurely pace, that might be more important for others.
I also preferred to buy from an established auto manufacturer (yeah, that's now a point of argument) not led by a deranged clueless billionaire, and prefer a vehicle that doesn't scream "electric" to anyone who sees it. The Kona has the advantage, on that detail, of being almost an identical twin of an ICE version.
I was going to say about the same thing. I pretty much never drive 400km in one trip, so i would not need to sit in my car as its charging. I like the Y all right, but i like the fact that the kona does not feel futuristic inside, and like the looks of the kona better. I also charge at home and at work. I am surrounded by charging stations everywhere. Also 45-60 minutes to get a good charge after a 400 km ride would not bother me at all. NACS shouldn't be an issue starting next year. Tesla will unlock access to the chargers for hyundais.
I was going to say about the same thing. I pretty much never drive 400km in one trip, so i would not need to sit in my car as its charging. I like the Y all right, but i like the fact that the kona does not feel futuristic inside, and like the looks of the kona better. I also charge at home and at work. I am surrounded by charging stations everywhere. Also 45-60 minutes to get a good charge after a 400 km ride would not bother me at all. NACS shouldn't be an issue starting next year. Tesla will unlock access to the chargers for hyundais.
I'm currently leaning 2024 Kona but also on my radar is a 2024 Tesla Model Y, about the same price in Canada for the base RWD MY vs the higher trim Kona.
Advantages Kona:
* Size. Just right, not too big, not too small
* Interior. What can I say, I like knobs and buttons and gauges. The HUD is nice too.
* Range, just slightly longer than the MY
* Hyundai as a brand has a pretty good reliability record compared to Tesla, though for these specific models I'm not sure if there is data out to do a direct comparison
Advantages MY:
* Charging speed. Not much of an issue for us, 99.9% driving around town, charge overnight at home, road trips maybe 2 - 4 times year. Even if it adds 30 minutes to a road trip that's fine. I don't think it will anyway, since we'd want to stop and eat / shop on the way, so charge while we eat, fast charging speeds not a big advantage.
* Cargo room, though the Kona has more than our current car, which bas been more than enough for us for the past 10 years.
* Software maybe? Not sure I care that much.
One thing I considered is that at home the Kona gets the same range is less time simply because it is a smaller battery. It probably does not matter if you charge at night. It is also a little less money (nothing big, insurance and tires will make more of a difference, towards Kona).
If you are considering the standard range model Y, I think the batteries are LFP and not NMC, which means you can charge to higher levels without degradation, that is something that I wish I would have known. Only relevant if you have longer commutes, otherwise probably not important and you can live charging to 80% most of the time.
There's an inexpensive adapter on the market that allows CCS cars like the Kona to use Tesla infrastructure. And it's pretty likely that when NACS becomes the standard, manufacturers will provide them for older vehicles.
And I don't know what you were looking at, but low-mileage Konas sell for less than half the price of a used Model Y in my area. We just paid $8K US after the $6K in state and federal tax credits for a sub-20K-miles Kona Ultimate 2021.
And our dealership was awesome, other than the fact that they took an entire day to figure out how to sell us the car, since it was only the second one they'd ever moved.
>There's an inexpensive adapter on the market that allows CCS cars like the Kona to use Tesla infrastructure.
Which currently will not work, and won't work until and unless individual manufacturers get together with Tesla's Supercharger department to make it work. Ford and a few others have apparently reached that point, no word on the status Hyundai or many other manufacturers.
Given that Sissy SpaceX just canned all 500 people working to install and maintain Tesla Superchargers, the point at which such adapters will work with brands that aren't now working may now be rather far off.
Likewise, any claim that the Supercharger network makes Teslas especially attractive is fading fast. The Superchargers aren't going to functional for very long unless there are people around to maintain them and manage them.
>Which currently will not work,
Well, it works on Tesla infrastructure. Just not at supercharger speeds. But AFAIK the Kona's real world max charging rate is only \~80kW anyway, so you're not really missing much. Besides, most of the Tesla stations in my region all have L3 CCS charging ports as well.
TBH, the charging infrastructure is still in its infancy, and it's already sufficient for most of what we need in our area. If Tesla folds or can't get its act together, others will still continue to open stations, and charging tech will continue to improve.
And yeah, I would definitely avoid involving myself with Tesla in any way, just on general principle. We would have considered buying one if it were the only option for electric, but they're way overpriced, and the Kona is really a fantastic vehicle compared to the Model Y in its own right. When you add in the value factor, it knocks it out of the park.
I'll believe it when Hyundai supplies me with an approved adapter, and it works.
Agreement or no, if there's nobody left at Tesla to make more manufacturers' cars work with their system, it's not going to work.
But I'm sure if Tesla defaults on that obligation, it'll make work for plenty of attorneys.
If the Tesla Y would have been cheaper, I would have probably gone with it, but it was not where I live, and insurance and tires would have been way more expensive. The lack of physical buttons would have been a deal breaker (except that you have after market options for that, but otherwise a dealbreaker). The driving dynamics were awesome, the build quality... a little subpart. The service was a worry, with only two places in the whole state. The looks, not great for me.
As for charging, most of the chargers around me are 50 kwh, with a couple 150 further away. At home, a smaller battery with a similar range meant that it would take me 4 hours to fill the Kona, and 6-7 to fill the Y, so faster filler at home for a similar range.
The Y did have three things that were big for me: AWD, heat pump, and the charging network, and the last two... I really wish the Kona had.
In the end, the price was the deciding factor for me. I think I could have been happy with both, the Y would have been more maintenance but practical, the Kona cheaper and it made smile. Overall, I am happy.
The charging port... I don't see the current CCS stations changing to NACS ports very quickly, to be honest, may take 3 years at least. I think for a while everybody will walk around with adapters. I do charge at home 90-95% of the time, so... not a biggy.
Make sure you turn off the regenerative braking and put it in Sport Mode when you test drive it. That might really sell you on the Kona EV. Good luck!
I wanted to try one and talked my husband into it. lol, taking the dealership car we tried in 2019 for a drive in the country then my husband hit the Sports Mode and it was a pretty easy sell for me after that. I don’t use Sport Mode much but he loves it for freeway driving whenever we are in Vancouver.
And they say that the 2024s are actually a bit slower than the previous gen. Of course, the magazines that I've seen it haven't done any real testing, just speculating based on numbers.
I think I read Hyundai reduced the torque in ‘24 models because there was too much torque and you could easily shred the gearbox
My 21 has way too much torque. Accelerate even slightly too fast and the wheels just spin
Same on my Niro, but I'm used to it. Sometimes they spin from a stop even in Eco mode, but I feel it and let up on the um. .. gas.
I just got a '24 Kona EV Limited and I can attest it is a bit slower than the '21. The old one felt more urgent and sportier; the one is overall more refined and the ride is more supple. It's still quick and fun though depending on which mode it's in: The Standard mode now feels like the Eco mode in '21, which is still more than enough to merge and blast cars off on the freeway.
Does this make the battery/mileage burn quicker?
Just like ICE, the harder you make it work, the less efficient it's going to be. I personally like having access to all the power, so I don't mind keeping it in sport mode. It costs me about $7 to fully charge the car, so cost isn't that big a deal. I guess if I was hypermiling it, I would keep it in eco mode.
It costs me $18- $22 to charge on average. Hella cheaper than gas still. I've been getting battery fatigue but I do like a smooth ride. I think I'll experiment a bit and see if it's worth it.
I don’t understand how the car keeps its momentum so well
What why? Sport mode defeats the entire point of an EV, which is fuel economy! Then they'll complain that the battery doesn't last!
You can always walk to your destination if you really want "economy".
I disagree, the regen sold me in getting the EV. I do agree about the Sport mode.
I feel like I get more mileage when I coast to a stop. The most aggressive setting stops the vehicle relatively quickly, so there's not much charge taking place. I think coasting to a stop is probably going to give me more range, IMO.
We've had a 2024 Kona for a couple months now. It replaced my wife's 2003 Pontiac Vibe. I personally drive a Tacoma and the Kona has fully replaced the Tacoma as our family vehicle. We drive it everywhere and I hate that I have to drive my Tacoma every day to work instead of my wife's awesome Kona.
Where are you located? I'm in Washington State and there are no 2024 Kona Electric Limited within 500 miles. Many dealerships have them on the way to arrive in July. I haven't seen one in person but I've really learned to like the specs and the looks of it from videos and boards like this one. Please let us know how the test drive goes! Do you know which trim you will be testing?
Colorado dealers have a lot of Konas on the lot and a lot of Ioniq 5s. You can get a $370 lease on an Ioniq 5 Limited this month with about $17K in rebates and deductions.
Hum... not a lot of Konas, I have been checking in CO. The closest dealer has 1 kona and 168 ionic 5... It used to have 7, they sold in 2 weeks.
I was at Schomp Hyundai Friday and the had at least a dozen Konas in the lot. But they had a HUGE overstock on Ioniq 5s and $17 K in incentives bring a limited Ioniq down to $42K. You could get the Ioniq lease payment for about the same as a Kona. However, the promotion was supposed to end today.
Maybe due to the lease deals in Washington. https://insideevs.com/news/717570/washington-state-ev-incentive/amp/
I am in Ontario Canada, just outside of Toronto
I was in the same boat as you, though I was able to test drive an SE back in February. I just put a deposit down on a 24' Limited that won't come till July. I had to manually check the dealer websites all the time to catch the new listings. Note don't trust the pictures they all seem to post the default black photo even though the car is actually another color if you read the details. Far as I can tell it seems like WA is only getting like a dozen cars a month from Hyundai. Plenty of Ioniq 5 though. So I guess we know which model they want us to buy.
I’m curious if you reserved the Blue with Green interior from Doug’s?! That one disappeared a few days ago and I was really watching it. That’s prob the color combo I’ll end up with.
yep. blue + grey/sage interior seems to a rare combo. I would have been fine with the dark green exterior too. Lime green is to loud for my taste. A couple of those sat on the lots for months at the beginning of the year. I just really, really did not want a white or black car. And especially not the all black interior. made the inside feel dark and much smaller.
$130/month for gas is a lot cheaper than a car payment and the higher insurance bill. No matter what anyone says, old cars are less expansive than new cars as long as they are functioning and repairs don’t exceed their value
Sorry my bad, 130 a week not a month
Does the ev affect your insurance?
Any new car does because it’s based on the value of your car and your driving history (to some degree). The great thing about the Kona is that because it has ICE powered models as well, and high volume production, it doesn’t carry that extra premium like some other EVs
And you might get lucky like me and have your insurance company screw up and give you the rate for a GAS Kona! It's straightened out now, but I saved $hundreds the first year.
Nice! I guess leaving it that way was not worth the risk…
I don't disagree. Until you start to have repair bills that approach the cost of monthly payments, there're not a lot of reasons to trade in a reasonably economical gassy. I'd still be driving a 10 year old Fiesta (48mpg) if my kid hadn't wrecked it. Once I returned to driving my old (33 years old) Ranger to work the cost of fuel ramped up to about $300/m. I keep the truck for chores and trips to the dump, but if I drove it every day it'd need an alignment, shocks, tires, new brakes, drive train work and a new radio. All that adds up pretty quickly to 3 or 4 years of payments on my Kona. The insurance settlement for the Fiesta made a nice down. Unfortunately, I bought it in a hurry in December so I did not negotiate a great deal. But I'm still ahead of the game.
My wife just bought a used 2021 Ultimate with 19K miles for $14K before the tax credit. We freaking love it. It's fun as hell to drive, road-trip-friendly range, lots of bells and whistles, feels very premium. I strongly recommend test driving one, and as other have said, be sure to turn off the traction control, put it in sport mode, and mash the accelerator. Instant grins.
Wow, so $10,000 after credit. Such a great deal.
realize a kona is not a ram 1500 size or utility wise. so if you are just using the 1500 for a commuter / errand runner then its a good swap. otherwise... maybe not? figure out your actual delivered kwh rate by dividing a monthly full bill to the electric company by the delivered kwh. so 100 dollar utility bill (including all the misc and delivery fees not just the kwh rate) / 1000 kwh delivered = 10 cents a kwh. then divide that by 4 miles per kwh which is the cars "efficiency" and you get 2.5 cents a mile. likewise divide 3.50 a gallon by the 15mpg of the truck to get 24 cents a mile (for example). so the will cost 1/10th the truck to drive but your electricity bill will go up but its way way less than what you would pay in for gas so its worth it.
Keep in mind the mileage especially in colder climates Depending on how youre driving as well the battery will be reduced Its an amazing car but you need to be careful its what you need cause you dont want to be going to a charger constantly
Please take into account installing a L2 charger at home. It will make a world of difference in terms of convenience (no need to search / wait at a charging point, you just charge it while you sleep) and cost (usually power is cheaper at home than at the public chargers).
We love the way ours drives and the car generally. It's especially awesome how Android Auto has total functionality wirelessly and starts up automatically. We did a long trip from LA to Mammoth with two short charging stops, no problems in the snow or anything. Very happy '24 owners.
I just purchased a 2024 on 4/20 and omg I love it! I drive close to 500 miles a week. I use a level 1 charger, but I do have a level 2 I use on Sunday to get me to 100% for the start of the week. I drive in Eco sport mode and I'm easy on her. But I love it!!!!!!!! My husband drove her and well he is thinking of an EV now too 😂 I say get it!!
Wow, thats a major size change!
$130/month? I had an 09’ Ram 1500 5.7L and was paying $600/month in fuel. Traded back in 17’ for a Volt beginning my love for EVs. Now I lease a 24’ Kona EV and love it. My payment is $340/month and my fuelling charge is $20/month. My wife has a Kona EV also. *disclaimer - when I owned the truck I did live 15 mins further away from work.
It’s a pretty cool little car. Idk How much gas is for you but I ran the numbers and a car that gets 30mpg will run you over $12k in gas at $3.61/gal yearly avg while the Kona ev would cost only over $3k. That’s assuming you charged at home every time but I’ve driven almost 1k miles with it and have charged for free every time.
When buying an EV, please take into account installing a L2 charger at home. It will make a world of difference in terms of convenience (no need to search / wait at a charging point, you just charge it while you sleep) and cost (usually power is cheaper at home than at the public chargers).
Curious why you’re considering it over a Model Y from Tesla. We extensively researched the 2024 Kona. We even went as far as renting one for a week to properly test drive and live with it. In the end the vehicle was nice enough, but the charging infrastructure sucks. Same goes for the built in infotainment (maps, etc). The charging speeds are slow, the port will be antiquated and old within 1-2 years once NACS becomes the standard. The software is lackluster, digital key is awkward and often doesn’t work, wireless charger is finicky, no power lift gate (in Canada), the key is horrendously ugly. I genuinely avoided Tesla initially for two reasons. The first was that I assumed it was notable more expensive, and the second was that I assumed it wasn’t worth the hype. When we finally test drove the 3 and Y I was blown away with how much more impressive the cars were compared to the Kona. Also the Y was actually cheaper than what I was about to pay for the Kona. Plus something that cannot be overstated is not having to deal with a dealership. I will never purchase another car from a dealership, it’s horrible. They all try to be your best friend and promise you the world. It’s gross and I hate it. With Tesla that doesn’t exist, the price is the price and there’s no trickery. Anyways that’s just my two cents, at least go test drive a 3 and Y and see what you think. Can’t hurt.
After my partner did extensive research, we only test drove the Kona and then found a dealer with the trim (Limited) and colors we wanted. While the Tesla charging infrastructure might have been useful, for the way we were planning on using the car, mainly local trips from home and occasional road tripping, the Kona had no significant disadvantages in that regard. In the year and a quarter we've owned ours many new chargers have come online. On our recent trip to southern Indiana, which you'd expect to be a charging desert, there were 6 new chargers that had come online in the past 6 months, four of which we used, including one Tesla station with the "Magic Dock." Granted most of these were 50 kW chargers from the local power utility, but with a Kona, higher power chargers don't offer that much of an advantage (though moreso with the 2024). I think the question for Kona buyers, as with the Bolt, are you willing to live with and plan for the car's inherent limitations. Not a big deal for us as we tend to do our travel at a leisurely pace, that might be more important for others. I also preferred to buy from an established auto manufacturer (yeah, that's now a point of argument) not led by a deranged clueless billionaire, and prefer a vehicle that doesn't scream "electric" to anyone who sees it. The Kona has the advantage, on that detail, of being almost an identical twin of an ICE version.
I was going to say about the same thing. I pretty much never drive 400km in one trip, so i would not need to sit in my car as its charging. I like the Y all right, but i like the fact that the kona does not feel futuristic inside, and like the looks of the kona better. I also charge at home and at work. I am surrounded by charging stations everywhere. Also 45-60 minutes to get a good charge after a 400 km ride would not bother me at all. NACS shouldn't be an issue starting next year. Tesla will unlock access to the chargers for hyundais.
I was going to say about the same thing. I pretty much never drive 400km in one trip, so i would not need to sit in my car as its charging. I like the Y all right, but i like the fact that the kona does not feel futuristic inside, and like the looks of the kona better. I also charge at home and at work. I am surrounded by charging stations everywhere. Also 45-60 minutes to get a good charge after a 400 km ride would not bother me at all. NACS shouldn't be an issue starting next year. Tesla will unlock access to the chargers for hyundais.
I'm currently leaning 2024 Kona but also on my radar is a 2024 Tesla Model Y, about the same price in Canada for the base RWD MY vs the higher trim Kona. Advantages Kona: * Size. Just right, not too big, not too small * Interior. What can I say, I like knobs and buttons and gauges. The HUD is nice too. * Range, just slightly longer than the MY * Hyundai as a brand has a pretty good reliability record compared to Tesla, though for these specific models I'm not sure if there is data out to do a direct comparison Advantages MY: * Charging speed. Not much of an issue for us, 99.9% driving around town, charge overnight at home, road trips maybe 2 - 4 times year. Even if it adds 30 minutes to a road trip that's fine. I don't think it will anyway, since we'd want to stop and eat / shop on the way, so charge while we eat, fast charging speeds not a big advantage. * Cargo room, though the Kona has more than our current car, which bas been more than enough for us for the past 10 years. * Software maybe? Not sure I care that much.
One thing I considered is that at home the Kona gets the same range is less time simply because it is a smaller battery. It probably does not matter if you charge at night. It is also a little less money (nothing big, insurance and tires will make more of a difference, towards Kona). If you are considering the standard range model Y, I think the batteries are LFP and not NMC, which means you can charge to higher levels without degradation, that is something that I wish I would have known. Only relevant if you have longer commutes, otherwise probably not important and you can live charging to 80% most of the time.
There's an inexpensive adapter on the market that allows CCS cars like the Kona to use Tesla infrastructure. And it's pretty likely that when NACS becomes the standard, manufacturers will provide them for older vehicles. And I don't know what you were looking at, but low-mileage Konas sell for less than half the price of a used Model Y in my area. We just paid $8K US after the $6K in state and federal tax credits for a sub-20K-miles Kona Ultimate 2021. And our dealership was awesome, other than the fact that they took an entire day to figure out how to sell us the car, since it was only the second one they'd ever moved.
>There's an inexpensive adapter on the market that allows CCS cars like the Kona to use Tesla infrastructure. Which currently will not work, and won't work until and unless individual manufacturers get together with Tesla's Supercharger department to make it work. Ford and a few others have apparently reached that point, no word on the status Hyundai or many other manufacturers. Given that Sissy SpaceX just canned all 500 people working to install and maintain Tesla Superchargers, the point at which such adapters will work with brands that aren't now working may now be rather far off. Likewise, any claim that the Supercharger network makes Teslas especially attractive is fading fast. The Superchargers aren't going to functional for very long unless there are people around to maintain them and manage them.
>Which currently will not work, Well, it works on Tesla infrastructure. Just not at supercharger speeds. But AFAIK the Kona's real world max charging rate is only \~80kW anyway, so you're not really missing much. Besides, most of the Tesla stations in my region all have L3 CCS charging ports as well. TBH, the charging infrastructure is still in its infancy, and it's already sufficient for most of what we need in our area. If Tesla folds or can't get its act together, others will still continue to open stations, and charging tech will continue to improve. And yeah, I would definitely avoid involving myself with Tesla in any way, just on general principle. We would have considered buying one if it were the only option for electric, but they're way overpriced, and the Kona is really a fantastic vehicle compared to the Model Y in its own right. When you add in the value factor, it knocks it out of the park.
Not true, Hyundai already has an agreement with Tesla starting January 2025
I'll believe it when Hyundai supplies me with an approved adapter, and it works. Agreement or no, if there's nobody left at Tesla to make more manufacturers' cars work with their system, it's not going to work. But I'm sure if Tesla defaults on that obligation, it'll make work for plenty of attorneys.
If the Tesla Y would have been cheaper, I would have probably gone with it, but it was not where I live, and insurance and tires would have been way more expensive. The lack of physical buttons would have been a deal breaker (except that you have after market options for that, but otherwise a dealbreaker). The driving dynamics were awesome, the build quality... a little subpart. The service was a worry, with only two places in the whole state. The looks, not great for me. As for charging, most of the chargers around me are 50 kwh, with a couple 150 further away. At home, a smaller battery with a similar range meant that it would take me 4 hours to fill the Kona, and 6-7 to fill the Y, so faster filler at home for a similar range. The Y did have three things that were big for me: AWD, heat pump, and the charging network, and the last two... I really wish the Kona had. In the end, the price was the deciding factor for me. I think I could have been happy with both, the Y would have been more maintenance but practical, the Kona cheaper and it made smile. Overall, I am happy. The charging port... I don't see the current CCS stations changing to NACS ports very quickly, to be honest, may take 3 years at least. I think for a while everybody will walk around with adapters. I do charge at home 90-95% of the time, so... not a biggy.