Hyundai Kona EV
We have been driving the Kona Electric SUV for all our commuting needs in Delhi NCR. I use it to commute to office, going for press conferences, going to the airport and leaving the car there when I am flying out for short outstation work trips, that can be quite often, upto twice a week. Weekend trips are also made by the Kona and these can be excursions to shopping or and early morning drive to witness the Republic Day parade. With the traffic situation being really bad around Delhi NCR these days, many of them have been journeys of upto two hours each and with traffic moving at a crawl, I am happy that not only have I not been spewing out carbon dioxide at a range of operation that internal combustion engines are very inefficient at, but also there is no running engine consuming energy just to turn around without moving the vehicle much. Having driven the Kona Electric for three months now is also changing my perception of the utility of electric vehicles of the type that the Kona EV is - ie fully equipped with a claimed range of over 400km. Even without charging infrastructure, these could very well be the primary vehicles for in city use even in the largest of cities of the country. I don’t think driving distances would be much greater in any of the other metros than they are in Delhi and if the Kona EV is able to serve as a primary vehicle in Delhi then it could in any other city in the country. And with an A/C wall box that each Kona EV currently comes with, charging would be much quicker than what we are managing currently. So perhaps all that is needed is an AC wall box at either the office or home, where ever the vehicle is parked daily for the most time.
I AM BEGINNING TO BELIEVE THAT AN EV COULD VERY WELL SERVE AS THE PRIMARY VEHICLE