[Duncan]

I'm considering whether to buy a Kona Electric, and looking at the reviews in various places I noticed one thing that worries me: the Which? review gives the Kona Electric one star for brakes:

And in the text:

However, should you need to do an emergency stop, the Kona Electric takes rather a long distance to come to a halt - fully 40.2 metres when stopping from 62mph. That's too long.

I haven't found any other reviews that mention braking as a problem. Is the stopping distance actually as long as Which? says? If so has it been improved in the 2020 model (since their review is for the older version)?

Full review: Hyundai Kona Electric (2018-) New & used cars though I think it may require a login to see all of it.

 

[Rowley]

As a long time owner of a Kona EV, I can honestly say that I have never noticed or had any issue with the brakes at all. Its the most expensive car I have ever owned, but also my best car to date. Not sure what hallucinogenic drugs the review writer had been taking 😄

 

[Electra Glide in Blue]

Problem, what problem! Had mine since September 2018 and have now done 22,000 safe miles. Using the adaptive cruise control where the car follows the car in front at a safe distance or reacts when a car emerges from a side road, or a pedestrian steps into the road, will in an emergency usually start braking before your brain has time to react.

Which magazine presumably just did a straight line test on a track which is the only way you can do it for a car without the anti collision feature. I wonder if they had the regen on?

There are several Konas used as driving school cars. They are possibly the ones to give you the best opinion on the brakes.

The other thing to be said is that, due to the regen the brakes are probably good for 100,000 miles. Mine only marginally worn at the 20k service.

 

[Duncan]

Problem, what problem! Had mine since September 2018 and have now done 22,000 safe miles. Using the adaptive cruise control where the car follows the car in front at a safe distance or reacts when a car emerges from a side road, or a pedestrian steps into the road, will in an emergency usually start braking before your brain has time to react.

Which magazine presumably just did a straight line test on a track which is the only way you can do it for a car without the anti collision feature. I wonder if they had the regen on?

There are several Konas used as driving school cars. They are possibly the ones to give you the best opinion on the brakes.

The other thing to be said is that, due to the regen the brakes are probably good for 100,000 miles. Mine only marginally worn at the 20k service.

Yes, they were specifically talking about emergency stop braking distance so that would be straight line. The next paragraph on the other hand is enthusiastic about the capability for swerving:

The Kona Electric performed well in our hazard-avoidance test. When swerving hard, the stability control system intervened quickly and subtly to prevent skidding and the car remained controllable throughout. This is quite a fun car to drive, with good responsiveness to steering input. The steering itself is fairly precise and fast-acting.

and elsewhere in the review they enthuse about the regen.

 

[andyswarbs]

When I put my foot on the brake it works as it should. What more can you want! The car has traction control etc etc.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Yes, they were specifically talking about emergency stop braking distance so that would be straight line. The next paragraph on the other hand is enthusiastic about the capability for swerving:

and elsewhere in the review they enthuse about the regen.

I actually did an emergency stop at 30 mph this week. The tyres screeched and the car stopped as expected. Collision avoided, and one embarrassed driver giving me a wave.

 

[TomH]

Unless disaster strikes, normal driving does not allow us to measure ultimate braking distance to a stop.

Being Scottish I always ease off as soon a I can feel the rubber being ripped off the tyres that I will eventually replace.

Proper testing does it properly.

With regen and ABS, the brakes on a BEV have a lot of clever calibrations to overcome before they actually get round to stopping the car. Also the brakes may have been carried over from the ICE versions of the car which are significantly lighter.

 

[Anaglypta]

Unless disaster strikes, normal driving does not allow us to measure ultimate braking distance to a stop.

Being Scottish I always ease off as soon a I can feel the rubber being ripped off the tyres that I will eventually replace.

Proper testing does it properly.

With regen and ABS, the brakes on a BEV have a lot of clever calibrations to overcome before they actually get round to stopping the car. Also the brakes may have been carried over from the ICE versions of the car which are significantly lighter.

Or it may have been one of the early eKona's that had the wrong size rear brake pads fitted!

John.

 

[mikegs]

In a 2012 Which report on supermini braking the best was 34m and the worst 44m. Eyeballing the others I'd say the middling ones would be about 38m.
So 40m isn't great, but it isn't atrocious either.

 

[Duncan]

...

Or it may have been one of the early eKona's that had the wrong size rear brake pads fitted!

John.

Was that a thing? The review says they tested the car in October 2018 so it would have been pretty early.

 

[IanMurray]

I also did an emergency stop this week, I was coming up behind a cyclist on a country lane (30 mph, UK) keeping close to the hedge on the left to gain a better view round the slight bend to the right and giving me the option of stopping behind the cyclist or, if clear, overtaking. The car however decided I was wrong, and that I was going to hit the cyclist - flashing red image on HUD, warning sound and the car, traveling at about 22 mph stopped dead. The cyclist was a bit shocked as all she heard were the tyres on the loose gravel.

I guess my behaviour, used many times in an ICE where you want to carry the momentum, is unnecessary in the blistering instant acceleration of an EV.

As for the original question, the brakes are more effective than my last car and manage to integrate regen and pads seemlessly..

 

[Ian McVey]

For the physical size if the car they are heavy (as are all evs) but in the year I have had one I cant say it's any different to any ICE car I have owned apart from braking puts fuel back in the tank which is always a bonus.

 

[DougM]

Tyres make a massive difference to braking performance; this could well be more of a criticism of the Nexens than the car’s braking system.

 

[tanelv]

While it is true that Kona Electric brakes are not the best ones out there, it is definitely not what 1 star should mean. They are totally fine and safe and work as expected whenever you need them.

I have seen 40 metres reported in multiple places. If you want more objective comparison with other cars, look at ADAC test reports database for example Auto-Test: Finden Sie Ihr Wunschauto

Based on ADAC tests braking distances 100-0 km/h:
Kona 64 kWh - 40.3 m
Leaf 62 kWh - 37 m
Leaf 40 kWh - 36.5 m
Ioniq 28 kWh - 35.9 m
e-Niro 64 kWh - 35 m
e-Soul 64 kWh - 34.6 m
e-Tron 55 - 35.6 m
Dacia Logan 2005 - 44.5 m

So from that random selection you see it has one of the worst brakes, but still better than first generation Dacia Logan

 

[TomH]

While it is true that Kona Electric brakes are not the best ones out there, it is definitely not what 1 star should mean. They are totally fine and safe and work as expected whenever you need them.

I have seen 40 metres reported in multiple places. If you want more objective comparison with other cars, look at ADAC test reports database for example Auto-Test: Finden Sie Ihr Wunschauto

Based on ADAC tests braking distances 100-0 km/h:
Kona 64 kWh - 40.3 m
Leaf 62 kWh - 37 m
Leaf 40 kWh - 36.5 m
Ioniq 28 kWh - 35.9 m
e-Niro 64 kWh - 35 m
e-Soul 64 kWh - 34.6 m
e-Tron 55 - 35.6 m
Dacia Logan 2005 - 44.5 m

So from that random selection you see it has one of the worst brakes, but still better than first generation Dacia Logan

It's amazing that the other three Hyundai/Kia vehicles with the same drivetrain as the Kona and, presumably control systems, all have a braking distance of 35 metres +/- 1.

Does the Kona come with different tyres? With 15% worse braking performance?

Something very fishy here.

 

[davesul]

When the Kona EV first became available there were numerous Youtube videos from apparently unbiased journalists and private individuals in the UK and also Europe. I have seen a number or these but don't recall the braking effectiveness ever being an issue to comment on.
In particular there are quite number of videos provided by Nigel - The EV Puzzle - which contain quite a lot of interesting material filmed while driving his Kona around his part of the UK - Norfolk and further afield. Might be informative to watch some of these.

 

[Richard Gledhill]

I rather suspect it's mostly down to the hard, cheap, nasty, noisy Nexens that were supplied on the cars until recently. Grip is massively better when you switch to proper tyres. I have no concerns over the braking on ours - particularly with the autonomous braking, it shaves off about 1/2 second in an emergency compared to human reactions, which is FAR more than 3-4m of difference to other cars.

 

[andyswarbs]

When I had my car in for its battery recall on Monday they also did an update for the brakes. No idea what the issue was...