Kona Electric Car

[pianotuna]

Hi All,

I'm going to be test driving a Kona electric car on Tuesday 2019 06 11.

One question I am going to ask is about is towing four down.

Does anyone else have questions they would want answers for?

[Reisender]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

No the EVSE that comes with the car is 120 volt.

They do sell a 240 volt EVSE for between 400 to 500 dollars.

Reisender wrote:
Don did you have a chance to look at the EVSE in the bag? Just wondering if ithe included EVSE will do 240 volt. The website isn’t clear.

Thanks Don. Just curious.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

No the EVSE that comes with the car is 120 volt.

They do sell a 240 volt EVSE for between 400 to 500 dollars.

Reisender wrote:
Don did you have a chance to look at the EVSE in the bag? Just wondering if ithe included EVSE will do 240 volt. The website isn’t clear.

[pnichols]

EV range is VERY important if you want flexibility in use of your single "daily driver". We can't afford two vehicles .... one for trips to the next state over in all kinds of weather and another for trips to the country market down the road.

We need one vehicle that can do it all. Eventually EVs will have 400+ mile ranges, and at that time we'll maybe give some thought to owning one.

[Reisender]

Don did you have a chance to look at the EVSE in the bag? Just wondering if ithe included EVSE will do 240 volt. The website isn’t clear.

[pianotuna]

Hi Gjac,

Not a single one, unfortunately. The problem is that "neutral" doesn't do a mechanical disconnect between the electric motor and drive train. So it would spin.

Gjac wrote:
Hi Don, in your search have you run across any EV's that can be towed 4 down?

[Reisender]

pianotuna wrote:
Drove the car today. I loved it. It can't be towed four down. It is front wheel drive so it could be towed using a dolly. Preferred towing is on platform.

I'll keep my existing car for 5 years and then look seriously at a used Kona.

I'll be posting answers to some questions I asked.

Hi Don. I have seen a couple leafs being towed on Dollies. So doable. The rear wheels are essentially just two donuts going round and round.

[Gjac]

Hi Don, in your search have you run across any EV's that can be towed 4 down?

[pianotuna]

Drove the car today. I loved it. It can't be towed four down. It is front wheel drive so it could be towed using a dolly. Preferred towing is on platform.

I'll keep my existing car for 5 years and then look seriously at a used Kona.

I'll be posting answers to some questions I asked.

[philh]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

But does a BEV have such a drive train?

Some do

[Reisender]

time2roll wrote:
Been reading www.mynissanleaf.com since the initial orders were placed in May 2010. Mine included.

There are people on there that have hacked and disassembled just about everything. You think we have lengthy talks here.... it is nothing compared to some details on how these EVs work. It is a busy forum and virtually all cars are covered to some extent.

Drove the Nissan LEAF 3 years, RAV4-EV 5 years, now the I-Pace gets me around.

Ahhh. Makes sense. I am yet to get up and personal with the Ipace but looks nice from a distance. We’ll spend part of the winter in California this year and I’m sure the local dealer will have one. Otherwise we’ll be in Europe next year and I know they’ll have them there.

Cheers.

[time2roll]

Been reading www.mynissanleaf.com since the initial orders were placed in May 2010. Mine included.

There are people on there that have hacked and disassembled just about everything. You think we have lengthy talks here.... it is nothing compared to some details on how these EVs work. It is a busy forum and virtually all cars are covered to some extent.

Drove the Nissan LEAF 3 years, RAV4-EV 5 years, now the I-Pace gets me around.

[Reisender]

time2roll wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
So there is no 'park' position for the car? And no neutral?

There is. For Park some use an automatic parking brake and some have a parking pawl. Some have both.

Neutral just powers off the main electric drive motor... no mechanical disconnect. Wheels and motor always turn in unison together through about 7:1 gear ratio. Yes you can put it in Neutral while driving at speed and the motor just continues to spin. Just electronic disconnect.

Holy carp. Where do you learn all this stuff?

[time2roll]

pianotuna wrote:
So there is no 'park' position for the car? And no neutral?

There is. For Park some use an automatic parking brake and some have a parking pawl. Some have both.

Neutral just powers off the main electric drive motor... no mechanical disconnect. Wheels and motor always turn in unison together through about 7:1 gear ratio. Yes you can put it in Neutral while driving at speed and the motor just continues to spin. Just electronic disconnect.

[Bobbo]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi Bobbo,

Are you saying you know folks who do a 150 mile commute?

Bobbo wrote:

But, range is very relevant if you have a long commute and are trying to decide on whether an EV is suitable for you.

Yes, I am.

I have a friend whose wife is stationed at Blytheville Air Force Base, and will be till her hitch is up in about 2 years. He commutes, every day, to Memphis, TN.

In icy weather, I let him stay at my place to keep him from driving that distance on iced over streets.

Never lose sight of the fact that other people have other needs than you do.