New Year, new car and it’s another electric one. Looking at my diary for the early months of the year I think most of the new cars I am going to be reviewing in 2024 will be electric ones.
Last summer I drove the Hybrid version of the Hyundai Kona and I was very impressed. My daughter, who is often my front seat passenger, was also impressed, so much so that she is thinking of buying a new one sometime this year, maybe for the 242 reg.
So after driving the hybrid version of the Kona I was really looking forward to the full electric version and I wasn’t disappointed.
My test car came in a discreet but attractive Ecotronic Grey. As usual with most electric cars there is no attractive grille at the front, like you would find in a diesel or petrol car. The front of the Kona is like most electric cars, bland.
The new Kona is bigger in every area than its predecessor, but we are talking millimetres here, e.g. the new version is 145mm longer than its predecessor
The interior is really attractive and it’s so bright you could do with sun glasses. The seats are bright and a white roofline accentuates the bright décor. It would be a shame to wear muddy boots in the Kona, but if the seats do get dirty I think they could be cleaned easily with a J-Cloth.
The cabin takes its inspiration from Hyundai’s award-winning Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 siblings. A 12.3-inch digital driver’s display sits beside a similar sized touchscreen infotainment system, both of which are user-friendly.
Many drivers will be happy to hear that Hyundai have retained physical buttons on the dash for the radio which means you never have to take your eyes off the road when driving. And you also get slave controls on the steering wheel.
When you sit in, the first item that grabs your attention is the heads-up display on the windscreen that tells you what your speed is and the speed limit on the road you are travelling on. A great idea as nobody wants penalty points in January, or indeed any time of year.
The boot is large and there is a ‘well’ which would take a full-size spare wheel, but as usual with electric cars, no spare is provided. So as usual my advice to people buying new is to haggle for least a ‘mini’ spare wheel.
When I meet people in shopping centres when driving a new car the first question is usually the price. But when I am in an electric the second question is always about the range. With the smaller 48kWh battery the official range is 377km, while the official range for the 65kWh battery is 514km.
Now a cold, wet January is not the best time of year time to judge the range in an electric car, but I was able to get approximately 440km in my test car, which had the larger battery.
I have been driving electric cars for a few years now and while I didn’t make any very long journeys last week I can safely say that this was the first time in an electric car that I didn’t have any range anxiety
There are four driving modes, Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow. Naturally the best range can be achieved in Eco mode, but if you want to see how quickly the range will drop, select Sport mode.
The Kona is now a spacious car, very comfortable to drive and also a very quiet car on the road and not just because it’s electric.
Prices starts at €36,995 for the 48kWh model, while my test car with the 65kWH battery starts at €39,995. As usual with all electric cars, road tax is €120.
