H
yundai says the Kona SUV
is “smart on space.” In prior
updates, we’ve confirmed it has
a surprising amount of versatility for its
size. Recently, though, my wife and I put
it through its toughest test: moving an
entire apartment.
When we signed a lease on a new
home only 1.5 miles away from our
current apartment, we thought it would
be a good idea to just move all our
stuff ourselves and not rent a moving
van. The Kona should be able to handle
almost everything we have except the
mattress, right? The back seats fold flat,
creating an impressive 45.8 cubic feet of
cargo space, and on visual inspection, it
appeared the cargo opening was large
enough to accommodate most things.
At first, I thought that initial assump-
tion would prove correct. We had a few
larger pieces of furniture that would
require a truck—our long-term Ram 1500
handled that, though an actual moving
van would’ve been more convenient—but
for smaller furniture and boxes, the Kona
seemed sufficient. But as we transported
load after load, we realized the stacks of
stuff in the old apartment didn’t seem to
be getting much smaller.
After a few days of watching the pile
dwindle slower than desired, we realized
the Kona’s limitations. Sure, it’s smart
on space—for single trips. But when you
have a lot to move, it doesn’t matter how
smartly 45.8 cubic feet are packaged.
Sometimes you simply need more space,
and in this respect, my wife’s 2008 HondaCR-V outclassed my 2019 Hyundai
Kona. No surprise there; it has almost 60
percent more total cargo volume, albeit
without a flat load floor. Small, smart
packaging is often better than simply
big. But when you just have to get things
moved as quickly as possible, size does
matter. Not that I would expect anyone
to buy a Kona for regular use as a moving
vehicle, but if, say, you need something
that can pull double duty as personal
city transportation and a delivery vehicle
for your furniture restoration side hustle,
you’d be wise to look at other options.
One more point in the Kona’s favor,
against both the old CR-V and the new
Ram 1500 (admittedly a competitive
set no one will ever shop): its backup
camera. When you’re packing boxes to
the roof, you’re going to have quite a few
blind spots. All new cars sold in the U.S.
are required to have backup cameras,
but all cameras are not created equal.
When blind creeping out of a driveway,
a camera with a wide view gives you a
bit more time to hit the brakes if a car is
coming up in your box-filled blind spot.
I found the Kona’s camera worked
better in this regard than the Ram’s,
though that likely depends on the exact
nature of your load and the specific blind
spots you’re navigating. My wife’s CR-V,
on the other hand, predates manda-
tory cameras by a decade. We have
an aftermarket unit from Pioneer that
generally gets the job done, but it pales
in comparison to the OEM offerings from
Hyundai and Ram.“As long as you’re not moving to a new home every
few months or running a furniture delivery service
from your garage, the Kona offers versatile space in
a small package.” Jesse BishopService life:
5 mo/5,491 miles • Avg Fuel Econ: 23.6 mpgAvg CO2 0.82 lb/mi Energy cons 140 kW-hr/100 mi Unresolved
problems None Maintenance cost $0 Normal-wear cost $0
Base price $29,880 As-tested $30,005 EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ
26/29/27 mpg Real MPG 25.3/36.3/29.2 mpg2019 Hyundai Kona