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The Hyundai Kona Electrical received’t set information for vary or energy. You received’t discover one on the high of a mountain, and also you most likely received’t discover followers combating over its deserves on social media.
What the 2024 Hyundai Kona Electrical does as an alternative is ship worth and luxury. It performs almost each card within the electrical deck to be easy, silent, and to only get on with the enterprise of being your day by day driver — all whereas wanting prefer it got here from simply far sufficient into the long run to be further cool.
I’m in Victoria, British Columbia, within the dreary chilly, to search out out extra concerning the newest Hyundai. Let’s dive in.
Briefly: The 2024 Hyundai Kona Electrical is greater than earlier than and in a position to maintain rather more cargo. It’s additionally rather more refined than the mannequin it replaces. However, it’s lacking issues like a warmth pump, and the electrical drive system is almost the identical as the primary technology. It’s easy and quiet, nevertheless it received’t set vary information.
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Engine
Everlasting-Magnet Synchronous Electrical Motor -
Horsepower
201 hp (133 hp SE trim) -
Torque
188 lb.-ft. -
Vary
261 miles (SEL, Restricted), 200 miles (SE) -
Cargo
25.5 cu. ft. with seats up, 63.7 cu. ft. folded -
Towing
N/A
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Close to-silent -
Funky future design -
A great deal of normal gear -
Entrance-mount cost port
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No warmth pump for chilly climate -
Gradual L3 cost -
Lackluster vary -
No AWD
2024 Hyundai Kona Electrical Evaluate
EV First Chassis
The 2024 Hyundai Kona Electrical is a very new chassis. It’s round 6 inches longer and an inch wider than earlier than. Extra importantly, although, this time it was designed as an EV first and never as a fuel mannequin conversion.
Designing the Kona as an EV first means {the electrical} techniques are higher built-in. That offers you a flat flooring within the again seat, extra cargo house, and an expertise that’s extra intentional and fewer of a compromise than the Kona EV it replaces.
Pixelated Styling for Ioniq Seems to be
Hyundai’s design studios have been knocking it out of the park for the final half-decade, and the Kona EV isn’t any totally different. The sharp traces, and slim lights Hyundai calls a “pixelated seamless horizon” all play a component.
To set the EV other than the fuel Kona, Hyundai added much more pixels. The accent lights entrance and rear have extra of them, and so do the decrease fascias at each ends. Hyundai additionally painted the fender arch cladding, so when you see one the place the fender flares are physique shade however the rub strips are grey, you’re wanting on the EV. The pixel look helps make the Kona EV appear like it’s a part of the Ioniq 5 and 6 household of devoted EVs.
2024 Kona Will get Bigger Cabin
The cabin is just an inch wider, nevertheless it feels rather more spacious. Dropping the middle console performs a component, as does the taller roofline. The flat flooring within the again, the longer wheelbase, and thinner entrance seats add precise house, with rear seat passengers getting 3 inches extra room than that they had within the earlier Kona.
Much less Torque Means Higher Freeway Efficiency
Hyundai used the identical 201 horsepower motor that it used within the first Kona Electrical, nevertheless it did retune the system to make 103 pound-feet much less torque. How is that an enchancment? As a substitute of making an attempt to place 291 pound-feet via the entrance wheels from a cease and having nothing left on the freeway, the 2024 Kona’s electrical motor makes extra torque extra of the time.
The brand new Kona received’t spin its tires from a cease, however it can pull tougher while you’re making an attempt to merge on the freeway. Or make a fast maneuver in metropolis site visitors. It’s not as hectic because the outgoing Kona, nevertheless it’s so much higher within the sort of driving you’re most likely truly going to make use of this automobile for.
Hyundai didn’t change the motor a lot, and it didn’t change the battery a complete lot, both. The 64.8kWh pack has simply 0.8 kWh of additional capability. As a result of the Kona grew, that doesn’t do a lot to extend vary. However the 2024 Kona Electrical will ship 261 miles of vary, and that’s nonetheless a good determine, if not spectacular in contrast with higher-priced electrics.
On the street, I noticed an indicated 4.1 miles per kWh of consumption. That beats the official metropolis and freeway figures, and is extra environment friendly than the final time I drove a last-gen Kona EV.
The Kona can cost at as much as 80 kW on a Stage 3 fast-charge station, sufficient to get from 10% to 80% p.c in 43 minutes. It’s about 4 minutes faster than final yr, which isn’t sufficient to actually matter. In the event you plug right into a Stage 2 charger, although, which most homeowners can have at house, it can save you some severe time. Kona now fees at 11 kWh with a suitable cost station, chopping 3 hours off of the slower cost.
Shorter Vary for Shorter Budgets
These are the numbers for the big-motor Kona Electrical, at the least. Hyundai will even be bringing a 200-mile, 133-horsepower model. The cheaper SE trim can be lacking out on a couple of different goodies like tinted glass and heated entrance seats, however at $32,675 is without doubt one of the lowest-priced EVs in the marketplace. And, it’s $4,000 lower than a longer-range SEL.
Spacious New Cabin Get Greater Screens
The spotlight of the ethereal new cabin is the 2 most important screens. A pair of 12.3-inch screens have been mixed into one bezel. There’s no gauge hood above it, so the look is cleaner and extra cohesive. It’s nothing precisely new, Hyundai has executed it earlier than within the Tucson and Palisade, nevertheless it nonetheless seems to be recent right here.
There’s new {hardware} and software program behind the brand new screens, too. It’s quicker to make use of and helps over-the-air updates. It additionally seems to be higher and takes full benefit of the true property provided by the shows.
Wi-fi Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are each normal. Hyundai has additionally added its newest digital key perform, which helps you to open and begin your Kona Electrical utilizing a smartphone or suitable smartwatch. You possibly can share a digital key with anybody via the Hyundai app, and management entry and entry occasions — like giving somebody door entry to seize one thing for you with out letting them begin the automobile.
Actual Controls As a substitute of All Contact
Hyundai hasn’t gone all-in on the screens, although. The local weather controls are nonetheless actual buttons. They’re simple to see and straightforward to make use of, and I recognize that these continuously used controls haven’t been buried within the display screen like so many different automakers.
Beneath the local weather controls is one other distinctive contact. Hyundai has added a change to the driving force’s USB-C port to allow you to decide between cost solely or join and cost. If that sounds foolish to you, don’t fear about it. In the event you’re like me, you suppose that is a tremendous thought, as a result of there are many occasions while you need the choice.
The one oddball management is Hyundai’s gear selector. It’s the identical one because the Ioniq 5, the place you twist ahead for drive and backward for reverse. It ought to be extremely intuitive, however for some cause, I’ve by no means been in a position to get used to it. A number of different reviewers on the occasion mentioned the identical factor.
No less than there’s a warning chime when you attempt to choose the course you’re already in. However simply one other chime isn’t at all times sufficient to cease you from doing the unsuitable factor.
2024 Hyundai Kona Electrical: Easy and Silent
On the street, the Hyundai Kona Electrical is way smoother than something on this measurement and value class ought to be. The automaker’s suspension engineers have executed an amazing job of eliminating the physique and suspension heave that’s endemic to the mainstream crossover section.
It softens out the bumps with nary a thump. There’s little noise from the suspension on even the worst pavement. The steering can also be very remoted from the street. I didn’t expertise any vibrations or kickback. Nevertheless it does have glorious help weighting, agency sufficient for the freeway and lightweight sufficient for parking.
Mix the trip and steering with the silent electrical powertrain, and also you get a small automotive that’s very simple to drive. There’s little wind or street noise, so that you’re driving alongside in a quiet cocoon.
I wasn’t in a position to take the Kona Electrical off-road, however that’s probably not the purpose of this one. It’s front-drive solely, in contrast to the fuel mannequin. It has 5.9 inches of floor clearance, which isn’t nothing however isn’t higher than most sedans both. You possibly can retailer 220 kilos of drugs on the roof racks, however Hyundai doesn’t give this one a tow ranking.
The dearth of off-road functionality is a bit disappointing. Kona Electrical takes benefit of that huge battery in a manner that may very well be actually useful at a campsite. Car to Load energy tech offers you as much as 1.7 kW of family energy utilizing an adapter that plugs into the cost door on the nostril. You possibly can cost an e-bike or simply run camp lighting. Or cost one other EV if you should.
Kona Loaded With Security Content material
Hyundai has gone all-out on the driving force assists as soon as once more. Blind spot collision avoidance, ahead collision avoidance, lane retaining, side-view cameras, and even adaptive cruise with lane following are all normal. The one security options you want a better spec to get are entrance and rear parking sensors and the surround-view digicam.
2024 Hyundai Kona Electrical Evaluate: Conclusions
The 2024 Hyundai Kona is an enormous improve over the mannequin it changed. It’s solely barely bigger outdoors however has a wealth of additional usable house inside. It’s additionally significantly better to drive, feeling way more refined, secure, and cozy.
Regardless of all of these upgrades, the brand new Kona Electrical is cheaper. Ignoring the SE mannequin’s new low value due to that smaller battery, SEL and Restricted have value cuts of a number of hundred {dollars}.
In fact, it isn’t good. The Kona Electrical is lacking a couple of EV must-haves, like a warmth pump for cold-weather driving and high-speed Stage 3 charging. It’s additionally $8,000 greater than a fuel Kona, and that’s an quantity that can purchase you a whole lot of gas.
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