[Jamus166]

Having just taken delivery of our new Kona, I must say that we are completely bowled over by how good it is.
However, yesterday, we came back from the shops, parked in the drive as usual, got out and locked it. The car made a strange beeping sound not heard before. After all, Its only day 2 so I'm not familiar with every noise.
Anyway, a while later, I looked out the window to see the windscreen wipers going.

Now the old hands amongst you will know straight away what I'd done, but it took me a few minutes to figure it out. Yes I'd stopped the car, applied the handbrake, got out but not turned the car off. D'oh!

So the question from me is. What hints or tips would short cut my learning and help me enjoy the car even more.

 

[Bo33]

I feel your pain I once went and enjoy a whole football match while leaving my Prius running in the car park
On my return I said to my wife I'm surprised nobody stole it, apparently she wasn't

 

[i-s]

I've had a few instances of this.

When we first got the Leaf that was my first car with keyless. After that I had a few instances (thankfully all in our own garage) of wondering what I'd done with the volvo key only to realise that it was still sat in the dashboard...

Now with the Tesla (where you just get out and walk away and it does its thing), I'm finding that I keep forgetting to switch off the Lexus (hybrid, so engine usually not running when you come to a stop and put it in park) before I get out of it.

All I can say is that with time and familiarity you get into a routine with whatever car (or cars) you have and these early days issues go away.

 

[mikeselectricstuff]

Buy a 12v lithium jumpstart pack ( the smallest one you can find) . Something as simple as the boot not being properly latched overnight will flatten the 12V battery. If you have a starter pack, this is a 1 minute inconvenience instead of an hour+ wait for recovery.

 

[idiotzoo]

Done the same with the Niro more than once. I believe this is how the VW works, you just stop and get out. I’ve already disabled the ‘lock when you walk away’ function on the Zoe as I know I’ll start doing the same with the Niro.

 

[Duncan]

Wing mirrors fold in when you lock the car, so always check they're folded as you walk away. It won't lock if you leave keys in the car so that's probably a good thing. It will lock if the boot failed to close completely but you should get an alert on your phone/watch so keep an eye for those alerts.

Another reason for beeping when you leave the car can be if you leave a phone in the centre console. That won't stop you locking the car though so it's easy to miss the alert.

As for simply forgetting to turn it off, yes we've all been there.

 

[IanMurray]

When I finish driving I have taught myself to do four things in a switch off routine: Handbrake on; Gears to Park; Power button off; & pick up my phone, this has become a routine for me, as is having the key fob in my trouser pocket. I nearly always open & close the car by pressing the door button and watch/listen to the wing mirrors, if it doesn't open or close I haven't got the key fob.

Always a good one to show people new to EVs is to switch off the air-con as the car sits there silently until you drive away.

 

[e-nir0]

two months after owning the e-Niro, still I forget sometimes to stop or to pick up the keys

 

[farmergiles]

I prefer the Leaf's system - push button on either front door handle or tailgate (or use fob), being a control freak!

If you walk away from it when the power is still on it emits 3 loud bleeps and rapid ones if you try to lock it.

Pity the electric parking brake doesn't engage automatically, like it did on my old C5. (it does of course, disengage as soon as you move off.)

I do like the blind spot indicator leds in the door mirrors - works really well as does the adaptive cruise control.

 

[foureyes]

For some reason, after nearly three years, I've started forgetting to switch off our Zoe. Left it down a side street in Shrewsbury recently and it was still running when I got back to it a few hours later. Air-con merrily grinding away.