Hyundai Kona

cunnifferous

Anyone got their reduction gear replaced? Ive noticed the car has gotten louder when accelerating. It's not a clicking noise like I've seen described but more of a whirring sound. Warranty is out in 2 weeks so I've got it booked in. Hopefully they don't play ignorant with the noise!

spakman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121575803#Comment_121575803

That sounds similar to what I have as well.

I had it in with them last summer and they said it was normal motor noise, but I told them it hadn't been making that noise previously.

Had it in with them again this week as my warranty is up this week and I wanted it on record that I had raised it again before warranty expired. they said they brought it out for a drive but the roads were v wet (which they were) so couldn't hear anything because of road noise.

Since I got it back from them (had it serviced as well), the noise is actually worse and is audible at 60km/h whereas previously it would have been at closer to 100 km/h

spakman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121575803#Comment_121575803

Is yours like this?

Mine is nowhere near as bad but still noticeable - to me at least

https://youtu.be/Sjaw__LmjSk?si=0SRLWTJ_4EQ1mT65

cunnifferous

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121576004#Comment_121576004

No doesn't sound like that. The best way I can describe it is it's like the 'normal' acceleration noise from the motor has just gotten significantly louder. Really noticeable when accelerating up from 30kmhr up to 80. It's not so bad yet though that if it wasn't pointed out you might miss it.

What dealer did you have yours checked at?

spakman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121576306#Comment_121576306

Mooneys Long Mile Rd

cunnifferous

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121576612#Comment_121576612

I've mine in Dundrum. Haven't had the best experience with them but it was the only place I could get appointment before end of the warranty. Hopefully they play ball!

Tony H

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121575803#Comment_121575803

dont have the Kona any more but had Complete Traction Motor Assembly replacement (Electric motor, drive gear & motor assembly) 

there's a huge thread here about the issue

https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/2019-kona-ev-motor-noise-issue.12076/

dont let them fob you off , its a known issue .

cunnifferous

So just had the car in today and it needs a complete drive motor replacement. Relieved that the issue arose now and not a week later when the warranty was out!

All the same I'm a bit disappointed that a 5 year old car has needed such massive works, between the battery recall and now the motor replacement. Doesn't fill me with confidence going into a period of ownership with an expired warranty

spakman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121603459#Comment_121603459

Well that gives me the shivers....

The noise in mine is only noticeable really when going >80km/h and the dealer said they couldn't hear it the day I brought it in, which could have been true because the roads were wet, so its not that loud.

I'm still worried it's the same issue but dealer keeps saying its normal or that they can't hear anything so not sure what else I can do other than trade in the car.

cunnifferous

I think the issue is a more common than the 1% of cars that I've heard.

My car didn't even have the same noises as the others have mentioned and it was only heard on acceleration not deceleration as described in the TSB.

Maybe there are few different issues with the motor?

spakman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605389#Comment_121605389

Yeah, mine is only on acceleration as well.

cunnifferous

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121605400#Comment_121605400

Sounds like we may have the same issue.

The mechanic said some of the bearings had gone in the motor so it wasn't the same problem as mentioned in the TSB. The gear reduction unit is fine which explains why the noise is different. All the same it needs a new drive motor anyway. Id get back on to Hyundai Ireland if I were you.

Water John

Charging door wouldn't open this evening. See that this can be a problem in Konas. We thought maybe the cold weather might be affecting it. OH suggested hot water on it and it worked. Just for anyone who might experience similar.

cunnifferous

Has anyone figured out how to update the infotainment and firmware. Mine is 2019 without maps/navigation and there doesn't seem to be a version for that on the Hyundai updater app.

Royale with Cheese

Does anyone own the new Kona EV? My parents picked one up two weeks back and it looks like Hyundai gave them a single phase charging cable, they're only getting 7kw with it but I've tested the car with my own cable and it can pull 10.5kw from an on street AC charger. Just wondering whether this was a mistake by Hyundai or by design.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121661818#Comment_121661818

Most home chargers are single phase and are limited to 32A, 7.2kW unless they have three phase available at the meter box.

Royale with Cheese

It's an on street charger I'm talking about here. Their home charger is tethered.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121662093#Comment_121662093

Oh got you.

Have a look at the contacts within the cable (type 2 in the image)...

https://www.smart-emotion.de/wiki/entry/315-pinout-of-type-2-and-type-1-sae-j1772/

if you can only see a metal contact in L1 then you have a singe-phase cable (limited to 7.2kW), or if you have L1, L2 and L3 then it's a three-phase cable.

Hyundai probably handed out the only cable that they had - a single phase one, as the older Kona was limited to 7.2kW.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121661818#Comment_121661818

I think it happened before where an 11kW model was supplied with the wrong cable and after back and forth the correct cable was supplied.

Royale with Cheese

Well they just contacted Hyundai and got told that's the cable that was supplied to us with the car from the factory so basically fúck off.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121664754#Comment_121664754

Contact Hyundai Ireland and ask them if the new Kona should have a 11kW cable or a 7kW cable. As I mentioned you can check it by looking at the cable. 11 kW is 3-phase.

https://ev-database.org/car/1423/Hyundai-Kona-Electric-64-kWh#charge-table

mailforkev

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121664754#Comment_121664754

Contact Hyundai yourself, mention that's it's a bit disappointing, etc. Never trust the dealership that they have actually checked.

cunnifferous

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121661655#Comment_121661655

Anyone have any ideas on this?

Valentin_N

I notice a lot of used 2019-2020 Konas for sale, if I were to guess around 10% of all the cars ever sold in Ireland for that time.

Does anyone have an aggregated view of failure rates for the electric motor or the gear reducer unit (transmission)? Reading international forums, this seems to be a fairly common problem, but I haven't found a failure rate backed by any data. For this specific problem the faulty parts are sometimes replaced within warranty, but this seems to only move the next failure outside of warranty. Has Hyundai Ireland shown any goodwill on this issue?

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121774387#Comment_121774387

Are you having an issue?

I saw on forums that if the motor or gearbox (reduction box) were separately replaced then the other part may need to be replaced later. Ideally both parts should be replaced. It seems like the mating between both parts was misaligned or faulty and both parts would ideally be replaced to prevent future trouble. If out of warranty and no goodwill I would look for a non dealer specialist like to one in Arklow to source and replace a new motor and reduction box from a crashed car. Even replacing bearings may not be enough as I doubt the bearings themselves were faulty, more likely over strain caused them to fail. From a repair point if view it's safer to swap everything in terms of labour to disassemble and reassemble everything and preventing reoccurrence in the future.

If buying a car out of warranty it's a risk, first thing would be to test drive and compare noise, if buying replace gearbox oil ASAP. Keep a few thousand emergency fund in case the worst happens.

Valentin_N

I'm looking to buy a used 2019 Kona 64 with very little manufacturer warranty left and at most 1 year main dealer warranty. I doubt the dealer would entertain replacing a motor or a gear reduction unit under their own warranty, as even getting them to acknowledge this type of defect seems to be a challenge.

Some other forums went quite deep into the analysis of the various different types of failures that exhibit the same symptoms (noise when accelerating or regenerating). The general consensus seems to be that there is a design problem that eventually leads to 100% of the cars eventually experiencing this failure given enough time. I'm not sure I would believe such a grim conclusion without any supporting data.

In order to make an informed buying decision I'd like to get a realistic sense of the odds of failure and to know what my options are in case the failure happens outside the standard 5 year manufacturer warranty.

cunnifferous

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121780649#Comment_121780649

Just to add to this. I brought mine in 2 weeks before warranty was out with motor noise. Not the clicking noise on most YT videos but more of a whirring noise. They replaced the traction motor only and said the reduction gear was tested and was fine.

2 weeks later and the noise was back (not really sure if it actually went away). Car now out of warranty but brought it back and and they've agreed to change the reduction gear at no cost to me.

Long story short, both need to be changed in most cases I think and if they just change one or other prepare for the other part to go in the near future.

cunnifferous

Got my car back today. Didn't realise how noisy the reduction gear was until it was swapped out. At least, although my car is the 5 years old, the battery was replaced 1 year ago and the entire drivetrain in the last month. Practically a new car 😅

zozimus

Thought I'd post my experience of the Hyundai Kona EV 2020 after nearly 3 years of driving. I bought the Ultimate edition in Northern Ireland because I was desperate for a Head Up Display and the specs here weren't great. The price was good and it has held its value.

Repairs and maintenance - I had the 12V battery replaced fairly early on. It's a known issue. It broke down in the driveway and the AA guy didn't want to go near it because it was electric. I've learned since that it's best to keep a jump-start battery in the car for such occasions, but of course I haven't had to use it.

The brake pads and discs are still fine and have plenty left in them.

I changed the tires before they wore out because I wanted to go for something quieter.

I topped up the washer fluid a few times. Oh and when some bulbs went I replaced them with the LED versions. Aside from that it has been trouble and maintenance free.

Driving

The car is much easier to drive that the diesel I had before. I leave it on max regen so it's nearly one-pedal driving. I also leave all the driver assistance on so that it nudges me into lane and keeps distance etc. The adaptive cruise is brilliant.

It goes like a rocket especially in Sports Mode. Bit scary.

Handling

It's an SUV style so doesn't handle as well as the Volvo C30 I had before. So you wouldn't be throwing it around corners. Having said that, the low centre of gravity with the battery offsets that to a large extent so it's fine.

Range

I really don't notice the range as I just drive it and charge at home. But if I'm going between Cork and Dublin, say - then I usually stop off for a 15 minute fast charge on the way down and maybe the same on the way back. The farthest I ever got was 490km on a single charge in the Summer and driving conservatively.

I'd love to know if there is battery degradation but the garage don't seem to understand what I'm asking. I kept asking them to get a readout and they kept giving me the 12v battery readout. 5 times. So I'll get an ODB2 dongle and find out myself sometime. Forums say that it's not a problem so I'm not too concerned, just curious.

Value

The resale value for the spec and mileage is still very high. I don't expect that to last if the UK is anything to go by, but as it's a 64KW top of the range I think it's going to continue to be respectable.

Overall it's so good it's boring :-)

spakman

Good to hear, I have a 191. Was thinking of changing, but given the price volatility at the moment, I might just hold onto it.

What tyres did you put on it? One of my front tyres is fairly worn and causing a fair bit of road noise I think.