Hyundai Kona
Electric SUV was given a more distinctive look with recent facelift – is it enough for it to win here?
MODEL TESTED: Kona Electric 39kWh Premium
PRICE: £31,800 POWERTRAIN: 1x e-motor, 39.2kWh battery, 134bhp
WE’RE very familiar with the Kona Electric, having previously run one on long-term test. But in the face of new rivals, how will this facelifted model stack up? Here we’re trying the smaller battery option in Premium trim, yours for £31,800.
Design & engineering
SINCE its launch in 2018, the Kona has been offered with a variety of powertrains, including petrol, diesel and hybrid. However, our pick of the range has always been the fully electric model, which joined the line-up soon after the combustion-engined options.
In 2020, the entire range received a nip and tuck. From a cosmetic point of view, this introduced a sharper front-end design – still with a smoothed-out grille to set the electric model apart from pistonpowered Konas – and tidied up the light clusters in the rear bumper. Inside, the cabin benefitted from a revised infotainment system and digital instruments. The high centre console makes you feel much more cocooned than in the upright MG, while the driving position – complete with telescopic adjustment on the steering wheel – has a much wider range of movement than the ZS’s, so it’s easier to get comfortable. There are fewer soft surfaces than in its rival, but build quality feels solid enough.
The Kona Electric comes with two battery options. A larger 64kWh version promises 300 miles on a single charge, but like-for-like it’s £3,950 more expensive than the 39. 2kWh car we have here. If you mainly only cover short journeys, this is the one to go for. Saying that, the claimed 189-mile range for this model is still not to be sniffed at.
While the Kona’s electric motor is down on power when compared with the ZS’s, it’s certainly not lacking in torque; it makes a hefty 395Nm, which is 115Nm more than its rival.
Driving
THE combination of that high torque figure and the Kona’s eco-biased tyres means that performance feels quite lively; it’s quite easy to chirp the fronts from a standstill if you pull away in a hurry. The lack of power becomes evident once you move out of town, though. The Kona isn’t slow, but acceleration tails off sooner than it does in the MG.
The Kona’s powertrain is an impressive one overall, but even given the few years since its release, there are occasions which show the rate of progress with still-developing electric technology. In certain situations, such as the transfer between brake regeneration and acceleration, the motor’s response can occasionally feel jerky, while the automatic brake regen itself can be unpredictable, slowing the car down more or less than you expect when approaching a junction. Fortunately, the Kona’s rate of motor deceleration can be adjusted manually – and easily – via steering wheel-mounted paddles. The MG has a KERS switch on the centre console that does the same job, but the Kona offers five different settings compared with the three you get in the ZS.
Elsewhere, the Kona Electric feels largely similar to the rest of the line-up. That means the steering is well judged, because it’s light enough around town
but offers sufficient weight to feel reassuring at speed. Ride comfort is a little less floaty than in the MG at higher speeds and a little more composed over slower, rougher surfaces. The Kona is more stable through the corners, and it’s also slightly quieter on the move – but there’s very little in it.
Practicality
NOT when has more only it comes space does to the in load-lugging, the MG back have for an people, but edge it too.
There’s not much difference in headroom, but the ZS has several inches more knee room, so it’s the much better option for carrying taller adults. If you need to squeeze in three for a shorter trip, though, the Kona would be our choice; the centre seat is reasonably wide and soft, but those in the middle of the MG will feel rather perched on a high seat with a hard backrest.
If you want to carry small children, the Kona is also better here. Installing a child seat is easy because the mounting points are easy to access. In contrast, you need to prise back the upholstery in the ZS just to reach them, which isn’t ideal while trying to wrestle with a heavy seat.
Further ahead, the Kona’s high ‘floating’ centre console creates space for a large shelf beneath. The latest and largest smartphones don’t fit too well on the dedicated cubby, but the door bins are more generous here than in the MG. While the boot volume is down on its rival, the Kona at least offers a decent space beneath the floor that’s large enough to hold the charging cables.
Ownership
AT first glance, Hyundai’s 2022 Driver Power scores aren’t mind-blowing, with the brand taking a just-above-average 11th out of 29 in the manufacturer rankings.
However, dive into the individual model scores, and the Kona finished an impressive fourth overall and second in our EV survey (see Page 53), so it should be a satisfying car to own. It performed better than MG ZS EV, which managed 26th out of 27 models rated in our electric car poll (Page 45).
Running costs
ELECTRIC cars are proving to be very desirable on the used car market these days, and as such both of these challengers hold an impressive amount of their original value after three years. It’s the Hyundai that leads the way, though; it’s predicted to keep hold of 57.5 per cent of its asking price, compared with the MG’s 51.7 per cent.
For two cars that are almost identical in cost when new, that’s the difference between the Kona being worth £18, 275 three years down the line, compared to the MG that’ll be worth £16,525.