Hyundai Kona Electric Debuts With 298 Miles of Driving Range
The Hyundai Kona Electric has made its official debut, joining the Ioniq Electric in Hyundai’s growing portfolio of battery-powered vehicles.
The Kona Electric will be available in regular and large battery pack versions. The standard 39.2 kWh battery pack is paired with a 133 hp electric motor and will provide up to 186 miles of driving range. Hyundai claims a 0-60 mph time of 9.3s and a top speed of 104 mph. The battery will charge from flat to 80% charge in about 54 minutes using DC fast charging, with a full charge using AC power taking 6 hours and 10 minutes.
Long range versions of the Kona Electric will feature a 64 kWh battery pack paired with a 201 hp electric motor for a max driving range of 292 miles. This version won’t be lighting the timing charts aflame either, with 0-60 mph happening in 7.6s and the top speed sitting at 104 mph. It will also charge from flat to 80% charge in 54 minutes using DC quick charging, while standard AC charging will fill the battery in 9 hours and 40 minutes.
SEE ALSO: 2018 Hyundai Kona Arrives with Competitive Pricing
Other powertrain-related features on the Kona Electric include a regenerative braking system, the intensity of which can be adjusted using the steering wheel-mounted paddles, and a shift-by-wire gear selector that allows the driver to switch driving modes by pressing buttons located on the center console. The large seven-inch digital gauge cluster also relays relevant information about the battery and motor to the driver, and is joined by a standard head-up display.
As for the interior, it can be optioned with black cloth and leather upholstery, or with pure leather. The front seats feature 8-way electric adjustment as standard, along with 2-way lumbar adjust and 3-step heating and ventilation. A high-end eight-speaker Krell audio system is standard, while a heated steering wheel is offered as an optional extra. Hyundai’s SmartSense suite of active safety features are also standard, including cruise control with smart adaptive speed control, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alert and just about every other active safety feature you can think of.
Pricing and other details on the new Hyundai Kona Electric should become available shortly. The automaker has not yet indicated when it may go on sale, but we’re expecting it to arrive late this year.
Discuss this story on our Hyundai Kona Forum.
Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.
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Is that the NEDC or EPA range? I'm betting the NEDC range. The long range should still be pretty good though and a viable replacement for any car.
Krell? Every day they come out with a new high-end sound system.