Hyundai Kona Electric (2019-2023) Review

The Hyundai Kona Electric could be the car that convinces you that now is the time to go electric. It’s relatively affordable (lightly-used examples start below £30,000), can travel a useful distance between charges (up to 279 miles) and it comes with an extensive list of equipment for the cash. It's well worth considering next to the standard Hyundai Kona.

Chuck in a long warranty and a desirable small SUV body style and the Kona Electric is - on paper at least - about as close to being one of the best electric cars going.

It’s easy to see why demand for the Kona Electric is so overwhelmingly huge. At one point, Hyundai had to take it off sale as waiting times extended beyond a year. The range has now been streamlined to allow faster deliveries and reduce the wait, but you’d still be wise to skip the queue by looking for an as-new previously-owned example.

In typical electric car fashion, the Kona Electric is a lot of fun to drive. It does without a conventional gear selector, instead using four buttons to allow you to select drive, reverse, neutral or park. You’ll have to recalibrate your mind if you’ve not driven an EV before - it’ll accelerate instantaneously (there’s no waiting for the turbo the spool up or the transmission to find an appropriate gear), and there’s little noise to give you an idea of how fast you’re travelling.

You can slow down by simply lifting off the accelerator pedal. Increase the regenerative braking if you want to reduce your reliance on the brakes, but it’s not as severe as the Nissan Leaf (which has a one-pedal driving mode).

All this means the Kona Electric’s in its element around town. It’ll down in and out of traffic in a manner that’d look antisocial in a noisy combustion-engined car, while the slightly higher than normal seating position gives you a good view of the road ahead. Its relatively compact dimensions mean it’s quite an easy car for squeezing in and out of gaps, too.

While there’s plenty of power to get up to motorway speeds, you’ll find that the remaining range starts to fall quite quickly if you’re hustling in the outside lane - but that’s true for most electric cars. It’s not as refined as alternatives here, with quite a significant amount of wind and road noise.

The cabin feels modern, but it’s far from as futuristic as the new Honda e. Premium and Premium SE models come with a 10.25-inch infotainment system which is simple to operate, helped by useful shortcut buttons alongside the digital display. It looks sharp with clear graphics and fast responses, while Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are welcome standard features.

The Hyundai Kona Electric’s interior isn’t as plush as the MINI Electric, either. You’ll find a few below-par materials (the plastic on the centre console, for example) and it doesn’t look particularly attractive. It’s not offensive, though, and it’s logically laid out. You’ll find it easy to get comfortable, too, thanks to plenty of adjustment in the seats and steering wheel.

Rear space isn’t great. Adults will find it feels pretty tight back there, without a great deal of legroom. And the boot’s pretty small, too, with the batteries and charging cables leaving just 332 litres of space - less than in a Hyundai Ioniq Electric or Volkswagen e-Golf. You may wish to look at the Kia e-Niro if practicality’s important.

Still, these minor gripes aside, the Hyundai Kona Electric is a hugely impressive car. You won’t get a bargain - strong demand will see to that - but you will get an electric car that’ll be cheap to run, reliable, fun to drive and - the sticking point for many buyers - able to travel fairly long distances between charges.

Looking for a used car for sale? We've got 100s of Hyundai Approved Used Cars for Sale for you to choose from, including a wide range of Hyundai Konas for sale. If you're looking for the newer version, you need our Hyundai Kona Electric review.

These include a silver centre console, with space underneath it for extra storage, while buttons rather than a conventional automatic gear shifter makes the Kona Electric feel a bit futuristic. It doesn’t feel as premium as cars like the BMW i3, though, and you’ll find some harsh materials if you go poking around the cabin.

The Hyundai Kona Electric surges forward in near-silence, making it a very relaxing car to drive. It’s particularly good around town, where there’s no grumble from a petrol or diesel engine and you don’t have to worry about changing gears.

The biggest attraction is never having to pay for a tank of petrol or diesel again. Rising electricity tariffs mean running an electric car like the Hyundai Kona Electric isn't as cheap as it once was, but it's still not going to break the bank as much as a traditional combustion-engined car.

The most affordable way of charging any electric car is by plugging it at home, ideally overnight on an off-peak tariff. Octopus Energy, for example, allows you to charge overnight at a rate of 7.5p per kWh - in theory, that works out at less than a fiver to fully charge the Kona Electric. In reality, though, you won't be able to fully charge the Kona Electric within Octopus Energy's six-hour off-peak period (or four hours, depending on the tariff you're on) - but you should still be able to fully charge the Kona for around £10 - £15, if you're savvy.

You can charge a Kona Electric using a three-pin plug at home but it’ll take about 30 hours to do so fully. We’d recommend having a home charger installed - a 7kW unit will charge the Kona Electric entirely in around 11 hours, meaning you can just get into the habit of plugging it in overnight.

On a longer journey, a 100kW rapid charger will take the Kona Electric from 10 to 80 per cent range in about 45 minutes. This is a much more expensive way of charging, though - with some companies charging as much as 70 per kWh for a quick top up, you could pay more than £30 for a 70% charge.

The Hyundai Kona Electric SE comes with a seven-inch touchscreen media system (with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto), 17-inch alloy wheels, climate control and a reversing camera.

The Premium features a bigger 10.25-inch display with navigation, as well as a premium eight-speaker sound system. It also adds a host of driver assistance technology, such as Hyundai’s Lane Follow Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and an Intelligent Speed Limit Warning. Front and rear parking sensors are standard too, as well as front and rear parking sensors and privacy glass.

Topping the range is the Premium SE, which builds on the Premium’s spec with things like leather seats with electrical adjustment in the front, heated and cooled front seats (heated in the rear), a heated steering wheel and a head-up display. It also gets full LED headlights with high-beam assist.