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It’s a baffling system, and Hyundai engineers and prod-
uct managers couldn’t provide a simple, coherent answer
as to why they hadn’t included an optional one-pedal driv-
ing mode, like Nissan’s ePedal on the LEAF. What Hyun-
dai has built may be less unfamiliar to electric-car novices,
but that shouldn’t preclude also giving experienced drivers
what they want. The lack of seamless one-pedal driving
was our biggest gripe with the Kona Electric.
How will it do?
The company says officially that the electric Kona can be
ordered by any dealer, but field reports on earlier plug-in
Hyundai models last year contradicted that. If you’re not
in California or a few other states, you may have to work
to find a Hyundai dealer willing to order you a Kona
Electric.
Reports in early 2019 indicated that Hyundai dealers,
even in California, knew little about the car, couldn’t tell
shoppers when it would arrive or how many they would
receive, and sometimes tried to steer them from electric
to gasoline Konas. Other reports detailed price-gouging,
from $5,000 to $8,000 over sticker, at a few dealerships.
That too is hardly unique to Hyundai, but we hope it
will get worked out over time - especially since Hyundai
almost certainly loses money on every Kona Electric it
sells. The company has lowered its development costs by
creating Kona underpinnings designed from the start to
accommodate either a larger underfloor battery pack or
a gasoline drivetrain.
The specs
For the record, that pack has a listed energy capacity of
64.0 kWh, and the motor driving the front wheels has
a peak output of 150 kW (201 hp). The Kona Electric
is also said to be able to fast charge at “up to 100 kW.”
Although almost no CCS stations that can deliver that
exist today in the US, they’ll arrive steadily over the car’s
lifetime. In practice, the rate appears to be about 80 kW,
and that only for a portion of the charging curve.
Every Hyundai Kona Electric comes with a variety of
active safety and equipment features as standard equip-
ment: blind-spot alert, automatic emergency braking,
adaptive cruise control, active lane control and a driver-
attention monitor. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are
also standard. There are three trim levels: SEL, Lim-
ited, and Ultimate. The Limited version adds a power
driver’s seat, premium audio system, leather seats, and
LED lights. The top-of-the-line Ultimate adds a built-in
navigation system, parking sensors and the addition of
stop-and-go capability to the adaptive cruise control.
Our top-of-the-line 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric
Ultimate carried a total sticker price of $45,830. The base
price of the Ultimate was $44,650, a whopping $8,200
more than the standard SEL version. Aside from $135 for
carpeted floor mats - plus a mandatory $1,045 delivery
charge - it had no further options. The Kona Electric is
eligible for a $7,500 federal income tax credit and a $2,500
California purchase rebate, among other incentives.The company has lowered
its development costs by
creating Kona underpinnings
designed from the start to
accommodate either a larger
underfloor battery pack or a
gasoline drivetrain.
Images courtesy of Hyundai