A design for life: Hyundai Kona Electric

The Hyundai Kona is a mid-sized SUV crossover that is advanced, should prove reliable, and an immensely charming car, in that it does everything family transport ought to do.

That’s a considerable accolade in fact, because creating such a vehicle is one of the greatest design and engineering challenges on the planet. The fact that we take the quality and performance of our cars so much for granted doesn’t change that fact.

The Kona’s achievement is all the more impressive because it is true of all versions of the model – of which there are many. The entry-level versions have a smallish (1 litre) petrol engine, a manual six-speed gearbox and in the lowest trim level (“Advance”) can be had for about £25,000.

The hybrids run into the £30,000s, and are best suited to higher mileage users, given their premium, while the all-electric battery powered versions can top out at about £45,000, and is about as up to date as you can get – self-parking and the reasonable expectation of a 300-mile range on a single charge.

Please note, though, that that probably class-leading range is on the one with the bigger battery pack, and the downside is it will take nine or 10 hours to “fill up” fully on a home charger – but much less at a commercial fast charger.

As a larger, heavier car it’s also less efficient than the smaller batteried predecessor model. As a matter of interest it would take 33 hours, ie a day and a half, to charge from a three-pin domestic plug; compare that to your laptop or phone to understand the size of the battery pack.

In view of the negative publicity about electric cars that seems so fashionable at the moment, I should immediately add a couple of caveats about the Kona electric.

Rishi Sunak’s botched attempt to push the changeover to electric cars back to 2035, while still mandating the car companies to produce a certain proportion of BEVs (battery electric vehicles) under threat of financial penalty has created a market distortion – too much supply and too little demand for the current generation of new and nearly-new electric models.

THE SPEC

Hyundai Kona Electric Ultimate Lux Pack

Price: £44,695 (as tested, petrols start at £25,725)

Propulsion: Single electric motors, powered by 65.4kWh battery

Power (PS): 218

Top speed (mph): 107

0-60 (seconds): 7.8

Economy (miles per kWh): 2.4

Range (miles): 250-320

CO2 emissions: 0

So, there are bargains to be had from the current market mismatch. In the case of the all-new Kona, that has the added advantage that stocks of the recently retired version, perfectly fine by the way, if a bit less advanced, are also being cleared out.

Therefore, the official list prices of BEVs generally can be a poor guide to the actual deals on offer. The outgoing Kona electric, incidentally, is smaller and lighter than the new one, which means a lower range but superior fuel economy.

All the new Konas have similar styling, and that means it’s not to all tastes. The big scar-like groove along the side echoes the bigger Ioniq 5, where this Hyundai house style was first essayed.

But whereas the Ioniq 5 has exquisitely well-proportioned lines reminiscent of Giugiaro’s original VW Golf (50 years old this month!), the Kona’s are more avant-garde and modernist to the point of random. It’s still quite pleasing, at least to my eyes, and an evolution of the older more conservative Kona, but I can appreciate it’s not going to win any beauty contests.

Folk should be much more pleased with the interior, which is a fine blend of sensible hi-tech and old school convenience. By which I mean it’s got a nice big double aspect touchscreen, incorporating the dials coupled with an array of proper dials and buttons.

More and more manufacturers are reversing the trend of stuffing everything into a tablet-style touchscreen, which is good news for convenience and for safety alike. Plus, you get steering wheel controls and some voice commands on the most expensive versions. It all works extremely well.

There’s more space inside than with the old model, the materials are all of premium quality, and the beast feels like it is as robust as it looks.

The Hyundai-Kia group have made it their business to make their batteries as efficient as possible, pushing realistic range out to well past 200 miles in their mid-range Konas and Niros, even on a cold day on the motorway, but without undue sacrifice of passenger room and added weight. As a package it is technologically superior to the standard hybrid version, and of course is near-silent in use.

The most enthusiastic drivers will find the hybrid version in particular unsatisfying, but it’s now what the Kona is about. There might be a performance “N” version, as with other Hyundai models, which can go up against, say, Ford’s Puma ST. But for now, it’s strictly family transport.

The Kona then is bigger, improved and one of the better picks in an increasingly crowded segment of the market. Broadly its main competitors are the Jeep Avenger, Kia Niro (closely related) and Volvo XC40, which also come with a rich variety of powertrains. Just remember not to be put off by list price, and to take some time to search for the best values.