Hyundai Kona EV
We drive Hyundai’s first EV on a track
Much of the activity in the electric vehicle space in India has come courtesy two wheeler makers so far while most car manufacturers have shied away. Hyundai wants to change that and has decided to jump on the EV bandwagon with the Kona Electric. This isn’t the first electric vehicle to go on sale in India. The REVA or G-Wiz, as it was known in the UK, came out almost 18 years ago in 2001 and we currently have the Mahindra E2O Plus and e-Verito on sale. Tata sells the Tigor EV but that is only available for commercial purposes as
of now. So, not the first EV but it is definitely the most desirable and practical one.
The Kona Electric is based on its IC-engined counterpart and retains much of the design save for a few key differentiators. The most prominent of them is the styling of the nose with a conventional grille being replaced by a body panel with a debossed design element. It houses a flap that opens to reveal the charging socket. The bumpers, front and rear, have been redone as well and it rides on a set of very futuristic looking 17-inch alloy wheels. These lightweight rims are profiled to provide aero efficiency benefits. Driving home its crossover credentials is very healthy dose of body cladding all around and roof rails. It is a very offbeat design for sure and will turn a fair few heads. Hyundai is offering the Kona with a very healthy list of features right from a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple Carplay, Android Auto and voice recognition support and displays a plethora of information related to battery status and charging as well, a sunroof, electrically adjustable driver’s seat and a digital instrument console. You also get heated
THE HYUNDAI KONA ELECTRIC MAY NOT BE THE FIRST EV IN INDIA BUT IT IS DEFINITELY THE MOST DESIRABLE AND PRACTICAL ONE
and ventilated seats and a tire pressure monitoring system. Safety features include six airbags, ABS, ESC (electronic stability control) and VSM (vehicle stability management) and the regular IC engined Kona has received a 5-star crash test rating as per Euro NCAP. The cabin itself is a nice place to be in, both in terms of quality and the general ambience. However, the Kona does have a couple of shortcomings when it comes to space, though. The rear seat space, especially headroom and knee room are very average and three won’t be very comfortable seated in the back. Also, with around 334 litres of space, the boot isn’t very generous either and is in fact less than what the smaller Hyundai Venue offers.
Needless to say, Kona being an all-electric vehicle, there is absolutely no noise aside from tyre noise and wind noise. It takes a few kilometers of driving to get used to but after that it feels very normal, just like any other car. The steering is very well balanced in terms of weight. The Kona electric feels at home in the urban environment and turned out to be pretty enjoyable to drive out on the track as well. The suspension is however slightly on the stiffer side and could have been tuned better to suit Indian road conditions. There are