Hyundai Kona Electric Driven – Great Compact SUV, but Charging Needs Improvement

The new Kona Electric is a very well rounded, compact electric SUV. The 64.8 kWh battery versions are priced in the low $40k in the US, and high $40k in Canada, and you do get a lot of car for your money. In my time with the Kona Electric, I enjoyed the comfort and efficiency this car can provide.

It can easily achieve 5 km / 3 mi per kWh on high speed highway sections, and closer to 7 km / 4.3 mi per kWh around town. The seats were great for long drives (and ventilated in my Ultimate trim), and the Bose sound system delivered a great experience. The 150 kW front axle motor is very quiet at any speed, and adequate for daily driving. While it has decent overtaking capability and instant response, it doesn’t press you into the seat as hard as more expensive EVs.

Here below, is my take on a 10% arrival, 15 minute DC charging stop test of the Kona EV. Despite my best efforts to precondition the battery and optimize the charging stop, I only witnessed a peak of 95 kW charging speeds. But because the Kona EV is so efficient, I was still able to achieve a range of 114 km / 70 mi at 120 km/h (74mph). I estimated that I onboarded about 20 kWh of energy from the DC fast charger in those 15 minutes. For comparison, my own (much more expensive) Model Y charged 34 kWh and travelled 160 km / 100 mi.

Here is a longer tour of the Kona Electric and driving impressions after a few days of daily driving. The ride, the size, and features are all very good. Hyundai has been making EVs for some time, so they have nailed down the basics in terms of EV specific software features. My only complains were regarding the slow-ish DC charging performance and the one pedal driving (i-Pedal) implementation not staying persistent.

Styling too, is inoffensive and blends in with traffic. If you live somewhere where driving EV may be controversial, the Kona may be perfect because to most eyes, it looks exactly like Hyundai’s modern gasoline combustion cars.

Yes, even this more affordable EV is considerably more expensive than the gas version. The maintenance and fuel costs are going to make the Kona EV very compelling from a total cost of ownership perspective, especially for those who drove a lot. If you’re on the market for a compact SUV, give this recently refreshed Kona Electric a good look.