[Marc Warne]

I went camping recently and had the Kona EV on the site for around 36 hours. Just before I went to leave, the 12V battery was dead and needed jumping to power up the car properly. The Aux Battery Saver+ was on all the time.

I did charge my phone 2 times or so with the car on semi-on mode, but I thought if the 12V got low, the battery saver would kick in.

When the power did come on, the dash smugly said that the battery was topped up by the Aux Battery Saver when the car was off.

Am I right in thinking that the 12V battery should never really die if this mode is on (obviously excepting a faulty 12V battery)? Any theories as to what happened here?

 

[Kona Electric]

Duff battery?

Hopefully that's a warranty issue as less than 12months old

 

[yclaire]

Doesn't address why the Aux Battery Saver+ didn't come on, but the manual suggests using Utility Mode while camping, etc on page H61.

 

[Rei]

I think you will have to take that up with the dealer, and maybe message KiaUK on Twitter.

 

[Richard Gledhill]

That's definitely not the expected behaviour. As I have a dashcam permanently wired into the 12V battery, I am relying on the Battery Saver + to keep the 12V battery topped up... please let me know what they say.

 

[Richard Gledhill]

Hmm, think I've found the answer to the question! Surprise surprise, it's in the manual Looks like I'll have to deactivate the dashcam if I'm away for a while then.

I'm not sure how often it would have to run based on powering the dashcam. That said, I've never seen the "Aux. Battery Saver + function used while parked" message so I guess if it doesn't happen after 1 day of usage, then 10 times would cover 10 days... Trouble is, we love the car so much that it never goes more than about a day without being used to test it

 

[Marc Warne]

That does say "10 times consecutively" which I take as running straight after each other, in other words, for 200 minutes non stop. Also, this refers to the "Automatic mode", which (according to the section before) suggests that this is only when it's charging:

Mode
• Cycle Mode :
When the POWER button is in the OFF position with all doors, hood and tailgate closed, the Aux. Battery Saver+ periodically activates according to the auxiliary battery status.
• Automatic Mode :
When the POWER button is in the ON position with the charging connector plugged in, the function activates according to the auxiliary battery status to prevent overdischarge of the auxiliary battery.​

I think it is reasonable that if it has to charge the battery for 200 minutes for it to keep its charge that there's something wrong. I would be surprised if a dashcam used quite that much juice.

So, I'm not sure this is actually the problem, but it's certainly quite unclear!

There is, I guess, the possibility that one of the doors wasn't closed properly so it didn't activate, but I did get the message saying it did activate!

 

[Electra Glide in Blue]

Collected my car from dealer after 20,000 service. Drove 2 miles to collect wife from work and I now have the dreaded flat 12v battery. When I collected the car the boot was not shut properly and the car was unlocked. AA now here, story follows

 

[MrChaz]

fwiw, I regularly get the 'aux +' message

 

[Metcast]

Just had this issue this morning with a brand new Hyundai Ioniq Electric 2020. Quite strange

 

[Electra Glide in Blue]

The car had its 20,000 mile service today. Half an hour later the cars 12v battery failed to start the car. I had driven 2 miles to collect my wife from work. Called Hyundai Breakdown First AA guy turns up, very politely tells me he is not allowed to work on EV’s and rings base. Tells me it will be recovery on a flatbed, I point out that all the car needs is a quick boost to the 12v battery, that the official handbook says you can trickle charge or jump start but he would not waiver

Second AA man turns up 45 minutes later. Tests the 12v battery, it is down to 5v. So he fetches his 12v recharging pack and hey presto within a minute the car powers up. He disconnected his powr source and did comment that the main battery was only charging the 12v battery at 5amps which he considered low. But then the battery does not have to crank starter motor so perhaps the charging rate for the 12v battery is lower?

This issue is not unique to the Kona indeed the Leaf which has been around a good while longer has been raising this issue.

I was aware of this issue but never thought it would happen to me. Now I think it is not a case of if, but when. I guess that if I had driven 20 miles straight home from the garage this would not have happened and I would not have been the latest victim. I will now buy one of those quick start battery packs, next time I may not break down where I can drink coffee in the warm whilst waiting for the AA.

 

[mikegs]

It's a bit odd that it got the car operating but just two miles later couldn't. Did you have a lot of equipment in use - headlights, screen/mirror heaters, etc?
It sounds to me like the HV-LV convertor isn't working hard enough.

I will now buy one of those quick start battery packs,

I bought one of those packs following previous reports. See https://www.speakev.com/threads/no-power.141250/post-2686830

 

[Metcast]

It's a bit odd that it got the car operating but just two miles later couldn't. Did you have a lot of equipment in use - headlights, screen/mirror heaters, etc?
It sounds to me like the HV-LV convertor isn't working hard enough.


I bought one of those packs following previous reports. See https://www.speakev.com/threads/no-power.141250/post-2686830

Have you had to use it yet?

 

[mikegs]

Have you had to use it yet?

No.

I don't really expect to. But my car does sometimes sit unused for several days at a time and as I've never seen the alert about the battery saver having operated I don't know if it's working. So I'm inclined to be prepared for an event.

 

[MikeS]

I frequently se the message that the Aux Batt Saver has been used over night. I just monitor it to see if it happens more frequently. Again, my car if often left for 2 or 3 days without being used. I also purchased a battery jump starter that I keep in the glove box if it fails…….

 

[mikegs]

I frequently se the message that the Aux Batt Saver has been used over night.

Curious. Which setting do you have it on? (From memory there are two options but the difference seemed unclear to me, so mine's probably on the default.)

 

[Richard Gledhill]

Having read this thread last night, I came out to a flickering display, "Check 12V battery warning" and then total shutdown this morning!
We're off to Halfords to pick up a jump starter...
I have a permanently connected dash cam but it's designed for this use case... Does anyone else who's had this problem also have a permanently connected device like this?

 

[Richard Gledhill]

Also I do have the aux battery saver turned on.

My commute is short, only about 8 miles, and in this weather with lots of heating etc going. I wonder if the commute simply isn't enough time for it to charge up the 12V battery again after the initial hit for heating?

 

[Metcast]

Having read this thread last night, I came out to a flickering display, "Check 12V battery warning" and then total shutdown this morning!
We're off to Halfords to pick up a jump starter...
I have a permanently connected dash cam but it's designed for this use case... Does anyone else who's had this problem also have a permanently connected device like this?

Setting up my dash cam today so can let you know if I notice anything like that. Mine has a battery to prevent that though?

 

[MikeS]

Curious. Which setting do you have it on? (From memory there are two options but the difference seemed unclear to me, so mine's probably on the default.)

From memory the aux batt is set to on by default, but it is a long time since I looked at the setting. I guess it depends how often the car is left without being driven as to how often you will see the message.