Hyundai Kona
Hyundai offers the Kona Electric in a single variant with a substantial number of features befitting a car carrying a Rs 27 lakh price tag on-road. It also gives the Kona an edge over its chief rival, as attested by our road test in the November 2020 issue. One of my favourites is the ventilated seat function for the front passengers, a feature that I personally feel should have become more common by now keeping our generally hot and humid climate in mind. Along with ventilation, the Kona’s front seats are also heated, although that feature is hardly put to use. Save for a couple of exceptionally cold early mornings, I’ve never really felt the need to put seat heating on and even when I did, five minutes of it was more than enough. I doubt many, if any, customers have felt the need to use heated seats in India. While I haven’t found any real reason to complain features wise, there are a few things Hyundai should add if and when the company decides to roll out an updated model. The addition of a panoramic sunroof would go a long way in helping increase the feeling of space within the cabin. Also in my wish list is Hyundai’s Bluelink connected car tech that has already found its way into cheaper models like the i20.
Next month, the Kona is scheduled to go back to Hyundai for a software update and I’m eager to test how that affects performance in terms of range and charging, if it does at all. Currently, I’m averaging around 350km per charge which is almost 100km off the claimed figure.
ALONG WITH VENTILATION, THE FRONT SEATS ARE ALSO HEATED, ALTHOUGH THAT FEATURE IS HARDLY
PUT TO USE