Living with an electric car
We spent more than a year with the Hyundai Kona Electric in our fleet to gain a firsthand experience of living with an EV and Dhruv Saxena recounts his experience of using one as his daily driver
While an ICE-less future might still be, at the very least, a few decades away, the transition from fossil fuel-sipping cars to ones that draw power from cleaner sources is well and truly underway. Currently, it seems EVs are the future and for some even the present with a few, but very compelling options available in the market. Around 16 months spent with a Hyundai Kona Electric helped us look past the initial hype and delve deep into what it’s like to live with an electric car helping us ascertain if your next car should be an EV or not.
RANGE
As mentioned earlier, the Kona Electric was used as a daily driver so most of the running was confined to the city including home to office to home roundtrips in rush hour traffic along with occasional expressway runs with average speeds of around 80 to 90kmph. This sort of composition of city and highway driving is what most buyers subject their daily drivers to so, it helped give us a fair idea of the sort of range that can be expected. Over the course of 16 months, the Kona managed 340 to 350km per charge, which assuming an average usage of 40 to 50km per day, should easily last a week before warranting a recharge. Throughout its time with us the Kona was mostly driven in Eco mode which certainly helped optimise range. Honestly, with the sort of torque on offer and that too from the get-go even in Eco mode, we rarely felt the need to
switch to City or Sport mode. During our time with the Kona, we put it through our rigorous road test as well and our assessment threw up a figure of 289km per charge. However, do not that in case of our road test, we logged more highway kilometres than we did on a daily basis. And that’s the thing with EVs and range. Heavy throttle inputs and speed are range’s worst enemies. EVs work really well in the city, and we frankly never ran into any range related issues, but highway driving requires careful calibration of your right foot.
CHARGING
Buyers of the Kona Electric get a complimentary AC wall box charger installed at the location (home or office) of their choice. Hyundai claims that that can charge from 0 to 100 per cent in a little over six hours, an overnight charge essentially. In our case, we primarily used a 15A socket in our office basement to charge. We rarely let the battery level drop below 10 per cent and from that to 100 per cent took around 14 to 15 hours. Public fast-charging infrastructure is steadily expanding and with a 50kW DC
KONA MANAGED 340 TO 350KM PER CHARGE, WHICH ASSUMING AN AVERAGE USAGE OF 40 TO 50KM PER DAY, SHOULD EASILY LAST A WEEK
charger, the Kona can gain 0 to 80 per cent charge in under an hour. Still, for more users during the course of regular city runs, they’ll be sorted with the AC wall box charger or, in our case, a 15A socket. An EV’s only real Achilles’ heel is long-distance travel. The most we managed on a single charge at a comfortable pace with aircon running was a trip to Dehradun roughly 250km away. There are fast charging stations springing up along highways especially in the southern part of India and theoretically, fast charging for an hour, roughly the time it’ll take for you to finish a meal assuming the said charging station is accompanied by a restaurant, should get the battery up to 80 per cent or more. But you still won’t have the same peace of mind doing long distances as you would in the case of a petrol or diesel vehicle.
RUNNING COSTS
During its time with us, the Kona Electric consumed around 1,419 units of electricity and we logged 9,433km in all. This translates to a running cost of around Rs 1.05 per kilometre, based on an average cost of Rs 7 per unit of electricity in Noida. A similarly sized petrol SUV will be around five times more expensive to run. Sure, in terms of size and space the Kona is comparable to something like a Creta and at around Rs 25 lakh, it is significantly more expensive than its ICE stablemate, but in the long run, you’ll be able
to recover the extra cost. More so, if you take the relatively lower maintenance cost into consideration. A lack of moving parts compared to an ICE vehicle means that regular service is next to nothing. In the long run, there will be costs associated with tyres, brakes and suspension along with physical damage, if any, but regular service, as per accounts of owners online, if well under Rs 1,000. Plus, owners get a 3-year/unlimited km warranty and an 8-year/1,60,00km battery warranty for added peace of mind. We did not face a single mechanical or electrical issue during the 16 months we spent with the Kona Electric.
MAKES SENSE?
There is no straightforward answer to this question, I’m afraid. For weekend getaways one cannot rely on EVs just yet. Once an extensive public charging network is in place, it will get easier. Something like a Kona Electric seems ideal for those looking for a second car for daily city life.
Home to office jaunts and others runs within the confines of your city of residence will be dealt with ease without range anxiety creeping in. Even 200 to 250km outstation round trips will not be a problem. Lower running costs further work in an EV’s favour.
HOME TO OFFICE JAUNTS AND OTHERS RUNS WITHIN THE CONFINES OF YOUR CITY OF RESIDENCE WILL BE DEALT WITH EASE WITHOUT RANGE ANXIETY CREEPING IN