Popular SUV gets a fresh look and takes a step upmarket, while gaining a longer range in electric form On sale April Price from £25,000 (est)
George Hill george.hill@haymarket.com
AFTER MCDONALD’S ALTERED its brand image in 2016, adopting earthy tones in its restaurants and packaging, its popularity leapt forwards. If you take a change in direction and it pays off, it makes sense to capitalise on that success.
On its launch, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 was a big stylistic departure for the brand, and so warmly was it received that altering the second-generation Kona’s style to match makes a lot of sense. Witness the visor-style front LED light bar and its matching pixelated partner at the back, plus the chunky wheel arch cladding that lends a tough look.
The new Kona isn’t just different from its predecessor on the surface, though; it now shares its underpinnings with the Niro from sister brand Kia.This means it’s larger than before; growing by 175mm in length and 25mm in width means it’s now slightly bigger than the Ford Puma and Volkswagen T-Roc small SUVs, although it’s still slightly smaller than the family-sized Niro.
As before, the new Kona is being offered with petrol, hybrid and fully electric power.The regular petrol version’s turbocharged 1.0-litre engine and the hybrid’s 1.6-litre unit (paired with an electric motor) have been carried over from the outgoing model, but power is expected to increase slightly over today’s 118bhp and 139bhp respectively. At present, there are no plans for a plug-in hybrid version or a high-performance Kona N.
The Kona Electric, meanwhile, offers a choice of battery sizes, with usable capacities of 48.4kWh or 65.4kWh.The former can officially power the Kona for up to 213 miles on a full charge, while the latter can take you 305 miles. That’s slightly more than the outgoing Kona Electric can manage and competitive with the MG 4, which has an official range of 218 miles in SE guise and 281 miles in Long Range form.
Powering the Kona Electric is a single electric motor that produces 154bhp and 188lb ft of torque if you opt for the smaller battery, and 215bhp and the same torque output when you choose the larger one.
It’s worth noting, though, that the charging speeds supported by the Kona aren’t all that fast by modern electric car standards. Unlike the Ioniq 5 (which has an 800-volt electrical system and can charge at rates of up to 239kW with the 77kWh battery), the Kona Electric sticks with more conventional 400-volt charging. While there are no figures on speeds yet, we suspect it will accept power at a maximum rate
