Recent content by Kiwi_ME

I think Tesla should stick to the higher end of the market. Chinese EVs have been on the market here in NZ for years, are fairly popular and have excellent quality. If they were awful I would have heard about it by now. Tesla won't beat them and a low-cost model diminishes the brand, just...

That's because the metals at the thread interface bond together over time and pressure and are difficult to shift under only a shear force. The direct impact puts a momentary tensile force on that same interface and can break the bond allowing an easier removal.

I have a unique situation with my EV's single-speed gearbox in that Hyundai thought it was OK to install an internal magnet in a pocket which allows it to move around slightly in the oil circulation. Whenever it's inspected (through the drain opening with an inspection camera) it's clean...

I don't live in the US but even I know that receptacle is way out of date! With two EVs presumably in the same garage and a 40 amp circuit, if you own the property I'd suggest getting a hard-wired wall charger installed set to deliver 32 amps.

I won't be drawn into the ridiculous argument you've raised. I've simply stated that the author was incorrect with that one fact, easily verifiable from multiple sources.

The author (Levin) is incorrect about the US contribution to global CO2 being only 14%. Because it's cumulative it's actually 25%, twice that of China. Then work that out per-capita. But it's not 1980 anymore so it's far too late anyway. We've all made our bed and must lie in it.

Thankfully that doesn't matter, the effect is the same. The comments under that Levin article are just hilarious! Just what I needed for a Friday laugh.

"Always be charging" or ABB in EV parlance simply means don't pass up a charging opportunity if it presents itself. More applicable to the early days of the Leaf than now.

I've measured my Kona's average battery cycle efficiency and it's 98%. So, while driving at highway speed with the motor drawing an average of 15 kW, the battery loss means 1% of that is lost as heat, 150 watts. Heat losses from the inverter are also available and that could add three times what...

Right, sometimes I forget that you have winter over there. I'm not sure if the Kona can do the battery in the preconditioning phase.

Good questions. The battery management system knows what the battery power limits are and those numbers can be read over OBD on H/Kia EVs. Generally every EV will have a means to heat the battery, usually a resistance heater of some description in the coolant loop and using that of course is...

Your's uses a full-synthetic ATF and mine a 70W GL-4 gear oil, which is much the same as far as gears and bearings are concerned. Unless you're hearing a gear whine when starting off there's really nothing to worry about. In the 5 years I've been following H/Kia forums no one has ever reported a...

Nothing at all. You can beat on it the moment you drive off. In below freezing temps power may be limited until the battery warms up and many EVs have means to warm the battery pack coolant.

A 2-seater is a bit unlikely because hardly anyone else wants that in a cheap car. The Fiat 500e is close with 200 miles of range and a back seat you wouldn't want to sit in. I've heard Bolt seats are pretty awful and it will have close to the range you want but not in winter. Not sure why you...

I'll wait until I get down to around 45% percent then add 20% overnight using the portable 1.7kW charger to bring it up to 65%. At least for this NMC cell chemistry the effect of sitting at some charge level on degradation is like a bathtub shape around ~50%. If I needed more than 20% daily I...