WE DRIVE TWO HYUNDAI KONAS, IDENTICAL EXCEPT FOR
WHAT’S DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT UNDER THE HOOD.
WHICH IS THE BETTER EXPERIENCE?
For most of us, how a car handles the ins
and outs of the weekday commute and
weekend errands is the most relevant
factor in a new car purchase, so testing
director Kim Reynolds and I decided
we’d start there. Each of us would spend a
week living with each of the Konas, with
the aim of figuring out which model (andthus which powertrain) best handles the
doldrums of daily driving.
In a lot of ways the Hyundai Kona is
the perfect medium for this test. For
starters, we happen to really like both
the gas- and electric-powered Konas;
we named the entire lineup an SUV of
the Year finalist in 2019. Its subcom-
pact tall-hatchback body style is also(Volvo is scheduled to release an electric
XC40 late this year, and the Kia Niro is
offered as a hybrid and an EV.)
Using a Kona Electric and a Kona
1.6T, we devised a series of tests to see if
average Americans could rely on an elec-
tric car as their sole mode of transit—and
with all things equal, determine which
powertrain is more rewarding to drive.
APRIL 2020 MOTORTREND.COM 55Hyundai Kona Electric vs. Hyundai Kona 1.6T I COMPARISON