evo India – July 2019

Test location: Seoul, South Korea

Next month India will get its first electric SUV and

we’ve already driven it in South Korea

Hyundai

Kona EV

50 http://www.evoIndia.com | July 2019

S INDIA READY FOR ELECTRIC

vehicles? It is a question I fired

off on social media before

getting behind the wheel of the

Hyundai Kona EV and by the time we got to our

coffee stop I had a ton of responses — most

saying yes! Let’s face it, climate change is all

too real. This summer has been the hottest

I can remember. The lakes are dry, the fields

are parched. The monsoons started not in

the gentle manner they usually do, but with a

whipping cyclone. And even though cars aren’t

the biggest polluters, not by a long shot, their

exponential increase on the road is the most

visible sign of the change we are experiencing

— and the reason why cars are the favourite

punching bag for politicians and greenies. The

automotive industry, though, is responding.

Mahindra and Tata already have electric cars.

Maruti Suzuki is testing an electric WagonR for

imminent launch while heavily investing with

Toshiba in a huge battery plant. Audi is bringing

the e-tron to India and Jaguar will bring the

I-Pace here next year. And next month, you will

be able to buy an electric Hyundai.

The Kona EV will not only be Hyundai’s first

electric vehicle but the first electric SUV in

India. In fact Hyundai had decided to bring the

Ioniq electric car that they showcased at the

Auto Expo to India, but the Kona EV is a more

sensible option for an SUV-obsessed country.

And the Kona EV runs on a platform designed

with electric propulsion in mind, unlike the

Ioniq EV that I switched to after driving the

Kona and which, I discovered, was rather

dreary to drive.

I

Driven