Can the KONA, kona?

Is it punny?

Puns aside, the latest edition to the EV family in Malaysia comes from our beloved Kimchi loving friends, Hyundai. Their Kona Electric is essentially an electric version of their existing SUV, the Hyundai Kona.

I am the cleaner more sophisticated twin brother.

So what did we get? Low price, long-range? Well sorta, kinda. The Kona Electric comes in 3 variants, e-lite, e-plus and e-max. The starting prices stated to be RM149,888, RM169888 and 199888 respectively for on the road without insurance. These prices are relatively affordable for an Electric SUV here in Malaysia.

Range! The freaking range!

The 2 battery capacities offered for the Malaysian market is a 39.2kWh battery for the e-lite & e-plus while a 64kWh for the e-max. Hyundai says the Kona Electric can travel an estimated 305km (WLTP cycle) for the e-lite and e-plus, while the e-max has a purported range of 484km (WLTP cycle).

Besides range, top speed of the variants also differ with e-lite and e-plus topping out at 155km/h and the e-max at 167km/h. Torque figures are similar at 395Nm across the range. With 9.9 seconds 0 to 100 for the base models and 7.9 seconds for the top end, suffice to say the Kona is a capable SUV on par (if not better) with its dino juice guzzling SUV counterparts.

It does feel a little dated and more ICE-esque interior (which kinda makes sense).

So ermm, how charge?

In terms of charging, the Kona Electric base model does AC charging with its single-phase 7.2kW charger and it takes around 6 hours to charge up from 10% to 80% and around 9 hours 15 minutes for the 64kWh e-max. With the optional three-phase 11kW charger, however, times are cut down to 4 hours 20 minutes and 6 hours 50 minutes respectively.

The colours available is as shown below:

All Kona Electrics are exempted from import, duty taxes as well as road tax (starting next year, up until 31 December 2023). An income tax relief of RM2500 is also provided on the cost of purchasing and/or other related buying/renting of an EV and its charging facilities.

Safety first!

So should you buy a Kona Electric? Maybe. The Kona electric does come with the standard safety features (6 airbags, ESC, ABS, VSM, traction control and hill assist). The e-lite comes with a host of driver-assist features such as lane keep assist, lane follow assist, leading vehicle departure alerts and driver attention warning. Besides that, high beam assist and rear occupant alert is also present. Autonomous emergency braking is a little limited as it only works with vehicles and pedestrians as it relies on a camera and not a radar.

The e-plus and e-max however get the full feature list including a front radar and rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assist (that’s a long one). Blindspot collision avoidance assists, safe exit warning and smart cruise control are present on the two higher-end variants. It even has the capability to track cyclists (Malaysians would be happy now).

About that charger….

In addition to all that, a 7kW AC charging station is for sale (paired with an external Type 2 charging cable) at RM6000 or a 22kW AC version at RM7000 (excluding installation). The warranty comes at 2 years/50000 km (short for a car) while the battery is warranted for 8 years/160000km. Add ons are available for RM10000 to upgrade to a 5 year/100000 km warranty with free 3 years/50000 km maintenance. 🙁

In conclusion,

This brings us to the question I posed earlier, is it a good buy? If it is your primary car, the long-range option is a must, and if you live in a landed home (or the likes) getting the fast charger would be ideal. All said and done, you’re looking at a price tag of nearly RM 210k for an electric SUV with close to 500km range. With the currently limited options, it is definitely a reasonable buy, but with more traction in the EV market lately, only time will tell how reasonable the Kona Electric will be. Oh and KONA N ELECTRIC PLEASEEE!