Hyundai Kona test drive: Finally, a long-range EV at half the price

The Driven

Are you sure it’s fully electric. Isn’t there an engine in there?”

I’ve just been spent the best part of a week driving the newly released electric Hyundai Kona compact SUV, and that’s not the only time someone asked that sort of question.

That’s the beauty – and frustration – of the electric version: Hyundai have made a deliberate choice not to make their electric cars look like a golf buggy, or the aspirational Tesla, or the concept cars that get exposed at motor shows.

For the past five days I’ve been driving this everywhere, and practically no one turned a head. And that’s OK, it’s the start of the new normal.

This electric compact SUV, just like the Ioniq electric sedan that was released late last year, looks pretty much the same as its petrol equivalent, bar some trimming and the lack of an open grille at the front. It’s just that it is cleaner and so much more fun to drive.

But while it’s half the price of any other EV delivered to the market with a 400km plus range, it’s also twice the (upfront price) of its petrol equivalent. And therein lies the continued challenge for the EV market.

Read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven…