CHARGED Electric Vehicles Magazine – May-June 2019

MAY/JUN 2019 51

By John Voelcker

2 019

HYUNDAI

KONA

ELECTRIC

A viable EV competitor for the

average car buyer

s a company, Hyundai often sets goals that

slightly exceed those set by competing auto-

makers. The engineers who designed the Ioniq

Hybrid and Plug-In hatchbacks were told that the new

vehicles had to beat the fuel-efficiency ratings of the Prius

hybrid and Prius Prime plug-in hybrid.

So it is with the Hyundai Kona Electric. We strongly

suspect one of the design criteria was “more EPA range

than the Chevrolet Bolt EV.” Lo and behold, that’s what

it has. The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric is rated at 258

miles, versus the Bolt’s 238 miles. (The two are neck

and neck on efficiency, at 120 MPGe for the Korean car

versus 119 MPGe for the Chevy.)

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