Sure, the price is up there but there's an awful lot to like about the Kona. In fact that price will be all but expunged in a year or two of driving because you'll be blasting past petrol pumps rather than hooking up to them.
What makes the Kona different is its fuel range. On a full charge you can cover 400km.
Fast charging (you can buy one from the dealer and install it at home) or at any one of the growing number of public charging points, the Kona will get to about 80 per cent of full in about the time it takes you to find a café, have a latte and read the paper.
Charging up from the three-pin outlet in your garage will take an age but overnight recharging will give you ample fuel for daily commutes and then some.
Back to that price. It is a significant sum but for the moment at least you'll be on the ledger. We know the Government is beavering away to put an end to all oil exploration in our neighbourhood within the next couple of decades.
Very laudable but there's a catch there. Turning its back on fossil fuels means the Government will lose a massive revenue stream (through taxation).
You can bet your bottom dollar new wave motoring will be taxed somehow, some way. So while "filling up" your EV is a cheap as chips at the moment, it's a solid bet that says price hikes for "clean, green" fuel will quickly be in place. It's about revenue streams and no government will miss that opportunity.
So the Kona EV is premium but meantime filling up from the national grid is ridiculous cheap when you think of petrol prices. Even factoring in standard costs for vehicle wear and tear and maintenance, it is still hugely appealing.
This current model has a 64kWh battery to give it that 400km range. Hyundai is bringing in another model with a smaller battery output (and subsequent shorter range) but details haven't emerged yet.
The Kona EV Elite we tested was a startlingly good performer, with the electric motor giving it impressive launch speed. It is whisper quiet, exceptionally well built and has an extensive array of equipment on board.
Some of them, such as the heated and ventilated front seats, are going to be drain on power but if your motoring is largely urban commuting this isn't going to pose a major problem.
The controls in the car are mostly push button ones. The transmission controls, for example, are housed in a compact floating centre console.
No levers to move or dials to rotate; just button in your forward, reverse or park modes and away you go.
Shift paddles on the steering wheel don't involve the transmission in any way (as is usual). But allow to you manage the amount of braking regeneration when you take your foot of the accelerator.
It can be set to bring the car to complete halt without touching the brake pedal at all to maximise the amount of regenerated energy you can harvest.
While the fully-electric component of the Kona is the thing that matters, there are some other smart touches to the vehicle's design that need a mention.
The best of these is the front-end plug in point to charge the Kona. Every other vehicle we've driven that has a plug-in component has the charge connection at the rear end.
If your garage hot point is placed like ours, then it means reversing the car into the garage to charge it up.
Not so with the Kona, Drive in front end first, open the charging flap in the area where the front grille is usually found and plug it in.
And that's another thing. The Kona EV doesn't have the usual front grille. It doesn't need one.
There's a small amount of air let into the engine bay via another opening to help cool that electric motor.
And the engine develops 150kW of power which is oodles. And it gets the car off the mark very, very quickly driving through the front wheels.
There's an extensive line-up of equipment aboard, including blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert, rear parking sensors and a reversing camera, auto climate air conditioning, auto high beam function, a heated steering wheel and a head-up display.
There's also an audible alert for pedestrians when the Kona gets too near them.
As the country's EV charging network continues to expand so too does the range for fully-electric vehicles like Hyundai's Kona EV. It is the way of the future and here's just the vehicle to show how pleasant that journey can be.
Techno stuff …
Hyundai Kona Electric Elite
Price: $79,990
Engine: Fully electric
Power: 150kW, 395Nm
Transmission: Direct drive
Suspension: MacPherson strut (front), multi-link (rear)
Brakes: Discs (front vented)
Safety: ABS, BAS, EBD, ESC, TCS
Size: 4801mm long, 1800mm wide, 1570mm tall, 2600mm wheelbase
Wheels: 17-in alloys, 212/55 tyres
Fuel: Electric
She says …
The Kona's a likeable and fun car to drive with some surprising features, like the downhill braking system which feels uncanny at first.
The car feels light on the road and has not trouble overtaking. It has a well-built feel about it and space isn't compromised because of clever battery positioning. And visibility is good from the high seating position.
Plugging it into the wall socket in the garage overnight makes it a very usable electric car. The Kona may be a tad expensive but hey, think of the fuel savings.
Nanette Maslin
