com for a great deal on your next car and to see lots more New car reviews and features subscribe to our Channel, the Hyundai Kona was first launched in the UK in 2017.. It was Hyundais first Venture into the small SUV market and was first available with a petrol and diesel engine with Hybrid Power. Following on after that, that car, to be honest, was a bit off the pace compared to the many excellent Rivals it was up against at the time, but the Kona electric was a very different proposition. Despite having the same name, it was launched a couple of years later and was still based on the fuel powered Kona, but was a much better proposition in the electric car market, proving to be all together more impressive. This was the second fully electric car in Hyundais lineup, following the ioniq that was itself a very competent and impressive electrical rounder and Hyundai took that experience and moved things on even more with the Kona Electric. In fact, the moment that launched in the UK and we had a chance to test it, it became our favorite electric car. The most impressive thing about it was the electric range that it offered in our tests. It managed a huge real world electric range of 259 miles and that was in genuine real world driving conditions, but the Kona electric partly lived in the shadow of another electric car during its time on sale. Just a few months after the Kona electric arrived in the UK, the Kia e Nero was launched with Hyundai and Kia being sister companies.

The two electric cars had many similarities showing the same battery and electric motors, so the enero also offered an impressive rear world range and it had a better ride and handling balance slightly nicer interior and was a little more practical too. All of which meant that, just as soon as the Kona electric became our favorite electric car, it was knocked off top spot by the enero. The Kona electric then had a facelift in 2020, but the changes were mainly to do with the styling. The overall electric package was untouched, but now, following on from a new Nero, we have a new second generation Kona this time around. Not only does the new Kona have the same battery and electric motor as the latest new Nero, but it is also built on the same mechanical underpinnings with the two cars now sharing the same platform. That means the Kona is now bigger than it was before. In total, its 175 millimeters longer 25 millimeters, wider 20 millimeters taller and the wheelbase has been stretched by 60 millimeters as well. This leaves it noticeably bigger, although it is still slightly smaller than the Nero. The Styling has had a fairly big overhaul too. Its perhaps not quite so, eye catching and different as Hyundais other latest electric models, the ionic 5 in the ion X6, rather than being a radical departure from Hyundais. Other designs, like those two EVS, were the new Kona evolves. The look of its predecessor highlights now include a front light bar across the bumper and heavily sculpted wheel, arches.

As a slight nod to the ionic 5 and ion X6. There are also some pixel graphics on the electric model too. If you go for an n line version, then youll get black door mirrors in a slightly more aggressive, look at the front and the rear theres. Also 19 inch Alloys and twin exhausts youll be able to get the new Kona with the vehicle to load function, which was first showcased with the ionic 5.. This will help turn the Kona electric into essentially a massive three pin plug to help you charge your laptop or even boil a kettle when youre out and about the charging port now has a light in it to help see it at night and the door itself Is heated allowing it to operate at temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees, its been given a heavily updated look inside as well now with a layout similar to the ionic 5 and ion X6, with two 12.3 inch screens joined together on top of the dashboard whats Different from the ionic 5 and ion X6 is the fact that under the infotainment screen, there are some physical buttons for the climate controls, which should be easier to use than the touch sensitive Alternatives found in Hyundais other EVS. You can get a 12 inch head up display in the Kona electric as well. In the previous car, there were a lot of buttons down on the center console along with a gear selector, but this has now been relocated in this new model with the gear selector.

Now found on the steering wheel, this frees up the center console area with the aim providing some useful storage space instead to go with this new tech, theres new materials in the interior to attempt to lift the feeling of quality, something which wasnt a strength of the Old car, the previous version wasnt great for practicality either, but that looks set to change for this new model. Weve already said that this new Kona is bigger, which is a good starting point, and on top of that, the front row seats are apparently 30 percent thinner than before to try and help increase. Second row legroom theres also a flat floor, which should mean its easier to comfortably fit three passengers side by side in the back, and the boot has grown by a substantial 92 liters compared to the previous Kona, now offering up to 466 liters of storage, making it Very similar to the Nero if you do want to find out more about the new Nero click on the link to watch. Our full review, just like before youll be able to get fuel powered versions of the Kona. There wont be a diesel, but the petrol and hybrid engines from the old model are thought to be carried over for the new Kona, with minor increases in power right now. There arent any plans for a plug in hybrid model and even though there was a performance focused Kona n for the previous generation, its thought that a similar version of the new car isnt in the pipeline, the first Kona, was designed with petrol and diesel engines in Mind and then an electric version was brought in later on.

Hyundai says the difference with this new model. Is that its the other way around it started with the electric version and then adapted it to fit the engines in so the Kona electric is the big focus of the new Kona lineup. Indeed, even in the previous model, the Kona electric accounted for 40 of all. First generation Kona sales in Europe, so are we now looking at some huge electric changes for the new Kona which will catapult it to the top of the class? Well, perhaps not, there will be two choices available with the Kona electric. The Standard Version has a 154 brake horsepower motor and a 48.4 kilowatt hour battery, which is up from the 134 brake horsepower motor and ‘ kilowatt hour battery from before the long range version of the Kona electric sticks with a 65.4 kilowatt hour battery, which the old Model had but features a 13 brake horsepower hike in power for its electric motor now up to 214 brake horsepower. The standard range version has an official range of 212 miles, while the long range model is 304 miles. That is only a small increase on the previous Kona and, while the ionic 5 and ion X6 are capable of incredibly fast charging speeds. The new Kona electric is not Hyundai is not quoted, exact charging speeds, but we suspect it will be the same or at least similar to the 72 kilowatt maximum rate. The Nero EV is capable of so is this a missed opportunity for Hyundai the first Kona electric, like the Kia iniro, seemed way ahead of its time, offering a big electric range for what at the time, was a low price relative to most other new EVS? This new Kona Electric in the same way as the new Nero EV doesnt, seem to move much on when it comes to the numbers and, of course, its not just the Nero EV, the Kona electric is going to be up against this kind of electric car is A rival to many other EVS, like the skoda, enyak Peugeot e 2008 Cooper born and the mg4 pricing hasnt been confirmed by Hyundai.

Yet but its thought. The petrol version of the car will start around 25 000 pounds. The hybrid at thirty thousand pounds and itll be around 38 000 pounds for the entry level version of the Kona electric. So will the new Kona be a petrol, hybrid and fully electric Smash Hit, or has this new model missed a chance to build on the first generations excellent offering to find out make sure you subscribe to our channel to see our full in depth review as soon As we get a chance to drive the car and tell us in the comments below what you think of the changes to the new Kona, thanks for watching dont forget head to whatcar.com for a great deal on your next car.

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