[Andy.T]

Hi all,

I've had a Leaf 24 kWh for the last few years but am looking at replacing it with something with a bit more range.

I'm looking at a Kona that appears to be a reasonable deal on the face of it, but have just noticed that the dealer has had the vehicle since July. It's presumably not been driven very much at all in that time.

I appreciate no one is doing the usual amount of driving currently, but having been a SOH obsessive for the last few years it makes me wonder how the battery will be holding up. And of course there's no way of seeing the SOH as a % on the Kona.

Assuming everything else is ok, how much would that long period of no use put you guys off an EV?

Thanks,

Andy

 

[davesul]

Hi all,

I've had a Leaf 24 kWh for the last few years but am looking at replacing it with something with a bit more range.

I'm looking at a Kona that appears to be a reasonable deal on the face of it, but have just noticed that the dealer has had the vehicle since July. It's presumably not been driven very much at all in that time.

I appreciate no one is doing the usual amount of driving currently, but having been a SOH obsessive for the last few years it makes me wonder how the battery will be holding up. And of course there's no way of seeing the SOH as a % on the Kona.

Assuming everything else is ok, how much would that long period of no use put you guys off an EV?

Thanks,

Andy

For a Kona, the use of an OBD adapter and an app such as EVNotify will show the value of battery SOH and numerous other parameters...

 

[Xinix]

If it has been sitting at high SoC that would be bad, but if it has been at 60% or 70% I don't see a problem. Ask the dealer for a health report on the battery

 

[208's Plenty]

I doubt that it would. My son bought a brand new car that had been sat in a field for over 4 months, with no issues.

My only concern would be the tyres, dependent on where it had stood, as they can go square on the bottom in contact with the road. Brakes and discs should be checked over and the state of the 12v battery.

Other than that just make sure you get a good deal.

Regarding the propulsion battery, surely the Kona comes with a significant warranty? 8yrs 160km.

 

[Andy.T]

Thanks all, that's helpful.

As I understand it the OBDII data on a Kona always shows SOH as 100%. I gather it's more of a binary good/bad thing as opposed to the more granular % based SOH you get on a Leaf.

Happy to be corrected on that if I have that wrong though.

 

[JeffG]

Regarding the propulsion battery, surely the Kona comes with a significant warranty? 8yrs 160km.

Is that 160km a typo for something I can't guess?

 

[208's Plenty]

Typo, 160,000km.

 

[TJEV]

Every new car bought last summer had been sat in Southampton for 6 months. Might have a slightly low 12v but otherwise fine.

 

[Andy.T]

Every new car bought last summer had been sat in Southampton for 6 months. Might have a slightly low 12v but otherwise fine.

Hah! Good point.

 

[mikegs]

Every new car bought last summer had been sat in Southampton for 6 months. Might have a slightly low 12v but otherwise fine.

Why would Konas be sat in Southampton?

But new cars are a different thing from used. They come from the factory set up for transit/storage with only essentials operating to, among other things, ensure batteries don't get drained to death.
A used car that is stashed in the back by a dealer is unlikely to have been returned to that state (if they can be), so it's likely to suffer more than new ones.

 

[Kingpleb1]

Personally for me, I'd not be interested in a car thats sat that long.
Its not good for rubber components, like tyres, bushes, door seals.
Unless its a good bit cheaper than waiting for a fresh custom order vehicle then stock vehicles are never worth it IMO as your paying a new price for a car thats been built already and sat around waiting for a buyer.

 

[dk6780]

It all depends on how much charge it has been stored at. If it was at 100% then that's not good even with the buffer that Hyundai use. But as you have such a good warranty I'd not be worried.
Dealers are used to moving cars around to prevent the tyres flat spotting and it would be obvious on a test drive. All of the rest of the components will be fine except possibly the 12v and the risk of condensation, again both of which dealers are used to protecting. If the deal is right go for it.

 

[davesul]

Thanks all, that's helpful.

As I understand it the OBDII data on a Kona always shows SOH as 100%. I gather it's more of a binary good/bad thing as opposed to the more granular % based SOH you get on a Leaf.

Happy to be corrected on that if I have that wrong though.

My understanding is that the Kona SOH numbers that are in the UK forums reflect the fact that the car has only been available here since September 2018 and age related degradation has not yet shown itself.
The Kona owned by stageshoot reached 67 k miles in September 2020 when he had a technical issue involving Hyundai technicians who used their own diagnostic equipment (GDS). Apparently that diagnostic check of SOH showed 100% which the technicians were impressed by - see this post #343

Just an Update on My Charging Issues.

It's rather reassuring to know that they do have the capabilty to do that sort of fault finding, because there was a suspicion from the earlier lack of progress that they were floundering about and had no way of identifying where and what was not working correctly... The process today was to...

www.speakev.com

 

[farmergiles]

Personally for me, I'd not be interested in a car thats sat that long.
Its not good for rubber components, like tyres, bushes, door seals.
Unless its a good bit cheaper than waiting for a fresh custom order vehicle then stock vehicles are never worth it IMO as your paying a new price for a car thats been built already and sat around waiting for a buyer.

Its sat for 6months, not 6years! How do bushes and door seals deteriorate differently when a car is sat for 6months compared to using it? Even the tyres will not have become square in such a short time.
I doubt the battery will have been kept at 100% and in any case 100% soc won't be 100% if there is a buffer. Certainly better than it being stood at 10%.

 

[Kingpleb1]

Because where they are generally stored is not exactly a nice indoor environment, the cars arent cleaned while stored either and generally not rotated.
You can tell this when you go to a store yard and open up a door or two and it almost sticks to the rubber seal.

You pays your money and takes your chances. My money would be walking away unless it was a good bit cheaper than others and i was keeping the car for a few years.

 

[HandyAndy]

A lot of Amperas sat around from 2012 until being sold in 2015. They haven't seemed to have suffered as a result.
I bought an Ioniq that had been 6 months ar the same dealer unsold. No problems with it at all.
Lastly, there's talk just beginning that Hyundai may recall their EVs with LG batteries, for a battery swap. Caused by a very few, rare, fires, but any fire is v bad news. Anyone getting this battery swap will have a more valuable EV afterwards.

 

[Favguy]

Your only real concern here over this time frame is the traction and 12v battery. 12v batteries are pretty cheap, so not the end of the world if it's knackered. I would be concerned by a traction battery left at 100% for 6 months. If its been stored at 50% to 60% it'll have had no effect. I have an EV thats been stored just under 8 yrs now at 60% state of charge with no noticeable loss of capacity.

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

When the plague began, my Zoe was stuck at the import centre for 2 months.
During that time, Renault added "Check/charge/replace 12V battery" to their PDI sheet (It was still in the car when I collected it).
One might reasonably expect that other EV manufacturers did likewise.

 

[peterboat]

My I3 had stood since September when I bought it in February, its been fine since it was put back into use, but its only been a couple of weeks so no idea how that ride out in the future

 

[TJEV]

Why would Konas be sat in Southampton?

But new cars are a different thing from used. They come from the factory set up for transit/storage with only essentials operating to, among other things, ensure batteries don't get drained to death.
A used car that is stashed in the back by a dealer is unlikely to have been returned to that state (if they can be), so it's likely to suffer more than new ones.

This wasn’t specifically about the Kona, I was saying that cars are fine when sat around - as demonstrated by the new cars everyone bought last summer which had been sat around at the docks for months