The old Hyundai Kona Electric stood out, as I said, with its reasonable price and good range, but as a car, it was honestly quite ordinary.
The driving experience was certainly somewhat entertaining, but the exterior looked odd and the interior felt rather plasticky.
The new Hyundai Kona Electric, on the other hand, gives a significantly more grown-up impression.
The car gives a more grown-up impression than its predecessor – Photo: Marcus Berggren An electric car from the ground up
A big difference compared to the previous generation is that the new Kona Electric is developed primarily as an electric car, although it also sells petrol and hybrid versions of the car.
The old Kona was built as a gasoline car in the first place, and was later converted to electric operation.
Under the shell, you can choose between batteries of 48.4 and 65.4 kWh, with a range of 377 and 512 kilometers, respectively. These can be fast-charged with an output of up to 100 kW.
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Bigger car with nicer lines
In terms of design, the new Kona offers a significantly more stylish and modern design language than the old car, with cleaner, straighter lines and a sober impression.
The most eye-catching detail is that both the front and rear lights have a narrow LED strip that stretches across the entire width of the car.
The new Kona is significantly larger than its predecessor – Photo: Marcus Berggren
The model has also grown significantly, and is now 14.5 centimeters longer than before. 6 of these centimeters have been added between the shoulders, which is good for the spaces inside.
Both the trunk and the back seat are now really spacious. The back seat is also helped by the fact that the front seats are now thinner than before, but suffer, as in many other electric cars, from a somewhat high floor.
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Quality and buttons
The sober, modern theme is repeated in the interior. The dashboard is reminiscent of the one in the older sibling Ioniq 5, and feels significantly more premium than in the old Kona.
The materials feel nice for the most part, and compared to many other modern interiors, the inside of the new Kona also appears unusually sensible.
In the interior, there are plenty of real buttons – Photo: Marcus Berggren
Despite the fact that there are two screens of 12.3 inches each – one in front of the driver and one in the middle – plenty of easy-to-use buttons for functions such as the sound system and ventilation have been spared, for example.
The MMI system is good and easy to use, and the fact that the navigation can now plan charging stops in the routes is appreciated.
In addition, the feeling of quality is good, and luxurious equipment such as ventilated seats, heated steering wheel and adaptive cruise control have been fitted, and the heat is supplied by an energy-efficient air source heat pump.
Active annoying security
However, there are a number of definite annoyances, most of which concern the active safety systems. Few other cars are as prone to flashing, beeping and jerking the steering wheel to ward off what the computer imagines are impending accidents.
The systems often appear to be oversensitive, and although the buttons in the cabin have not been skimped on, in some cases it takes up to four taps on the screen to turn them off.
The car received a cool reception from Euro NCAP – Photo: Marcus Berggren
The car also received a chilly reception from Euro NCAP which only gave the car a four out of five star safety rating, with the worst overall score of any car it tested in 2023.
According to Euro NCAP, the weakest link was precisely the active safety systems, even though they are more noticeable than in most other cars.
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A nice companion in everyday life
Fortunately, much of this is forgiven because the Hyundai Kona Electric is fundamentally a really nice car to live with.
As a driving experience, it won’t win any big prizes for its athleticism. With a weight of almost two tons and an output of just over 200 horsepower, the performance isn’t exuberant either.
The car is a nice companion in everyday traffic – Photo: Marcus Berggren
For its purpose, however, the car is undoubtedly snappy enough, and nimble and nimble enough to be pleasant to cruise through everyday traffic.
The steering is light but well balanced, the accelerator and brake pedals are finely calibrated, and the suspension is firm but not too bumpy.
Electricity consumption is also low, and even during the coldest months of the year, you get over 40 miles on a charge with the large battery.
A convincing whole
The new Hyundai Kona offers many of the same qualities as the big sibling Ioniq 5 in a more compact and cheaper format.
The Kona doesn’t look quite as futuristic as the Ioniq 5, but offers the same modern and fresh design language.
The car offers an affordable combination of practicality and range – Photo: Hyundai
The car also feels significantly more elaborate and premium-focused than the previous version, is pleasant to drive and feels well built.
However, the annoying safety systems and the poor Euro NCAP rating are disturbing.
Overall, however, the new Hyundai Kona Electric is a nice car that combines good practicality and good range, at a price that is a notch below cars like the big sibling Ioniq 5, Volkswagen ID.4 and Tesla Model Y.
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Overall impression of the Hyundai Kona Electric 4/5
Hyundai Kona Electric Long Range (2024)
Engine: Front electric motor, 217 horsepower, 255 newton meters
Transmission: 1-speed automatic transmission, front wheel drive
Top speed: 172 km/h 0-100 km/h: 7.8 seconds
Electrical range: 512 km
Battery Size: 65.4 kWh
Weight: 1,950 kg
Dimensions: (length/width/height): 4355/1825/1575 mm
Award: From SEK 514,900