Kona 64kWh summer drive

innrain

I know Kona doesn’t get too much love on boards due to the fact that most of you are cars enthusiasts. But I’m not. For me, the car is just a tool which gets me from A to B. I drive about 35k km a year and I wanted to go electric even since around 2015 but with as much compromise I was willing to do, I couldn’t find one suitable. Kona was the first on the market to replace my old petrol. I don’t aim this post at you the enthusiasts but more to people like me, the average Joe, who are considering switching to EV but they are afraid because they read threads like this (I do respect everyone's opinion just sharing mine). I don’t have a home charger and it is not my first long journey.


Last week it was the first time since we bought Kona (15 month and 30k km driven), when we went for a break longer that a weekend; (for the same reasons as all of us). We faced the biggest shortcoming of the car: Space. As we always pack more than we need for a holiday, making all the bags fit is the tiny boot is a demanding job. Kids (10 and 3 - 1 large swivel car seat) got crammed in the back with backpacks and teddys. In the boot just a large and a small suitcase plus two near flat backpacks. Maybe a roof box would solve this, but I’m worried about range. Anyway, all packed we headed to Killarney from South Dublin on a gloomy rainy day (temp about 15 Celsius). The drive was uneventful, stopped at Ionity Cashel for a stretch and charge, got to Killarney with half battery. We had charger at the destination. I’ve managed an average consumption of 17.9kWh/100km. Driving speed? Dublin to Cashel 169km in 1h36min (average 105.6 km/h) Cashel to Killarney (with a potty stop in Mallow) 140 km in 114min (average 73.6km/h).


In Killarney very few EVs on the road. Most of them I’ve seen were charging 😊. One day we did a Dingle peninsula tour where we’ve managed 172 km with an average consumption of 12.7 kWh/km.


Coming back the car was fully charged with 440km on the GOM. We took the M7 route, drizzle at the beginning, overcast most of the time 17-19 Celsius. Passed Birdhill where I wanted to stop but the little one was asleep and the battery wat at 70% so stopped at Obama Plaza instead. Charged there for 30 mins+ while the kids had something to eat and kept driving. My better one wanted to visit the temple (aka Kildare Village SC) so I plugged there for 1 hour and 7 minutes. Got home with 260 km left. Average consumption 16.7kWh/km. Speeds: Killarney -Obama Plaza 166 km in 113 minutes. -88.1 km/h; Moneygall - Kildare Village 85 km in 45 mins 113.3km/h and from there to home 62 km in 53 minutes 70.2 km/h (data from google timeline). The whole driving 316.7 km in 3h32minutes averaged 90km/h.





Costwise let’s assume I had 90% battery charged starting from home, at ecars rate of €0.27 it is €15.5. At Ionity 33.4 kWh cost me €13.04. Hotel charger was free and then again at ecars in Obama Plaza I charged 25.6kWh which costs €6.86 Total €35.4 for 878 km driven and 260 left. Approx €3/100km.



As conclusion I believe I might want a bigger EV in the future for this kind of trips but more than 90% of the distance (not time) driven is just me in the car. Even if there was some stress about the charging infrastructure like finding the chargers ICEd in Cashel or the single chargers at each location on M7 they were not an issue for me. The car did not alter my driving patterns as I would have stopped at Cashel/Obama Plaza with the petrol car and I would have driven at the same speeds. Maybe for the EV would have been optimal to stop at J14 but I knew that is unreliable. So yes a little bit of planning is still required. But I’m only hopping that we go in the right direction and the new hubs and private charging appearing on the map would solve this. Would have been possible to drive the total 440km without charging? Don't think so.

ewj1978

Great write up.

have the esoul myself and just waiting for the chance to take it the 405km from home to Belfast..
As for the roof box I've read it can take 30-40%!! off your range.

Lumen

innrain wrote: »

I know Kona doesn’t get too much love on boards due to the fact that most of you are cars enthusiasts.

I suppose I am a car enthusiast and I love the Kona.

People who slag it for suffering wheel spin need to learn the art of throttle control.

650Ginge

ewj1978 wrote: »

Great write up.

have the esoul myself and just waiting for the chance to take it the 405km from home to Belfast..
As for the roof box I've read it can take 30-40%!! off your range.

I have done a couple of 400kms ish days in an e-soul now. No big deal. Unfortunately it's a go car type rental. On Saturday I going to do Zurich to Frankfurt return for a burrito. Using only IKEA free chargers.

slave1

I have a Thule roof box setup and saw massive drop in diesel efficiency when used, around 30-40%.
Don't know what impact on a EV, I'd imagine on the Kona shape likely not far off same

Busman Paddy Lasty

ewj1978 wrote: »

Great write up.

have the esoul myself and just waiting for the chance to take it the 405km from home to Belfast..
As for the roof box I've read it can take 30-40%!! off your range.

Christ up to 40% off range. Was planning on getting a roof box this weekend!

unkel

Nice write up

innrain wrote: »

I know Kona doesn’t get too much love on boards due to the fact that most of you are cars enthusiasts.

Not so much to do with car enthusiasts. I'm a car enthusiast myself yet I love all things EV. Even FWD econobox EVs from Korea. I had one of those myself for 3 years. It's more to do with the fact that the Kona EV is very expensive for what it is: basically a poor spec small crossover and it costs the guts of €40k on the road

That said, there is a reason the car was the best selling EV in Ireland in 2019. It's very well made and it has a huge range. And there was little else for sale with a decent range at the time, the Tesla Model 3 didn't ship until the end of the year and Tesla X and S and the likes of the Audi etron are far more money again

Kramer

Lumen wrote: »

People who slag it for suffering wheel spin need to learn the art of throttle control.

The Kona's best feature IMO - it would actually lay down perfect, parallel black lines for a good 20 metres with the traction control switched off. Always brought a smile to my (hooligan) face .