2019 Hyundai Kona Electric

It's fair to say that affordable electric vehicle segment has been evolving rapidly. Each successive car seems to have better performance, more practical packaging and, most critically, increased driving range. The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric is the latest to join the fray, and it raises the bar on just about all of these qualities.

Doubts about range and a general lack of familiarity with the ins and outs of charging have dogged electric cars from the beginning. The original 2011 Nissan Leaf could travel 73 miles on a charge, which seemed like a technical miracle at the time but quickly gave rise to the phrase "range anxiety." Today, the latest 2018 Leaf is good for 150 miles. That's a comfortable number for just about any commuter, but it's not quite enough to enable carefree weekend spontaneity.

The Chevrolet Bolt EV was the first non-Tesla to smash through that uncertainty barrier with its 238 miles of range. But the Bolt's form factor still screams "economy car" at full volume. Enter the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric. Not only does it offer a class-leading 258 miles of range, it's also a stylish crossover SUV that has much in common with the gasoline-powered Hyundai Kona that we like so well.

Best of Everything

The Kona Electric is instantly recognizable as a Kona, but its front end is distinctly different in a way that contributes to a drastic reduction in aerodynamic drag. Some of the changes are hidden under the car, but the visible elements include exclusive aero wheels, a rounded nose that lacks a traditional grille, and reworked front bumper endcaps that lack the regular Kona's mutton-chop plastic sideburns. Debate all you want about the difference in looks, but it's hard to argue with a drag coefficient reduction of 15 percent (0.34 to 0.29).

A regular Kona comes with a tame 2.0-liter engine (147 horsepower, 132 pound-feet of torque) or a more powerful 1.6-liter turbocharged motor (175 hp, 195 lb-ft). The Kona Electric easily eclipses them both with an electric motor good for 201 hp and 290 lb-ft of torque. That could also give it a performance advantage over the Chevy Bolt, which generates a similar 200 horsepower but lags behind with 266 lb-ft of torque.

The gas-powered Kona is available in front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive variants, while the Kona Electric is strictly a front-drive machine. But there's more to it than that. Front-drive gas-powered Konas employ a twist-beam rear axle that we're not overly fond of, but the Kona Electric employs the same multilink rear suspension that's fitted to the AWD Kona. Hyundai made the change to create additional room for the underfloor battery, but the upshot is the Kona Electric gets the more sophisticated of the two rear suspensions. As for the Bolt, its rear end rides on a twist-beam rear axle.

Bigger Battery

That battery, though, is what gives the Kona Electric a class-leading 258 miles of range. It has a 65-kilowatt-hour (kWh) capacity, which is a measure of storage that is analogous to using gallons to describe a gas tank's capacity. By comparison, the Bolt EV has a 60-kWh battery and is rated at 238 miles. Both vehicles share an EPA-rated electricity consumption of 28 kWh every 100 miles, which includes the inescapable reality of losses that occur during charging.

Like the Bolt, the Kona Electric has a standard 7.2-kilowatt on-board charger, and so it takes about 9.5 hours to recharge its big battery using 240-volt, Level 2 charging equipment. But that number assumes you're starting from empty, which isn't typical. It's better to consider how many miles you'll drive between charges and compare that to the typical Level 2 charging rate of 24-26 miles per hour.

All Konas come standard with DC fast-charging capability, which helps when you do need to refill a low battery in a hurry and have access to a suitable Level 3 fast-charge station. It uses the SAE Combo port format. The Bolt uses SAE Combo, too, but it's a $750 option on the base LT version. The Kona's DC fast-charging port is faster, too. Hyundai says you can add as many as 125 miles in 30 minutes; Chevrolet says you'll get 90 miles in that time.

Smooth Driving

Unlike many such events, our initial drive in the Kona Electric included a lot of familiar roads in our own backyard. And so it's easier for us to be conclusive about how the car drives. The chassis feels very well balanced, and the car's suspension does a nice job of absorbing a variety of lumps and bumps. The steering responds crisply, too, even if we wouldn't complain if it had a little more direct feel. Overall, the sophistication afforded by the mutlilink rear suspension shines through, and the low center of gravity brought about by the underslung battery gives it more poise than a regular Kona.

Heavy traffic prevented us from wringing it out much, but it's clear that there's more than enough thrust underfoot to get the job done. And like most electric vehicles, there's an obvious effortlessness and smoothness that comes from direct-drive, which is another way of saying it never shifts because there's just one forward gear. We'll know more about its maximum acceleration (and panic braking) capability after we test one in the coming weeks.

Of the brakes we can say this: We're not completely satisfied with the way Hyundai has calibrated the car's "regenerative" magnetic braking system for one-pedal driving. The specs seem excellent: The Kona Electric comes with four selectable regen levels, steering paddles to make easy changes, and a clear display. But you have to hold the left paddle to get the highest level (brake by hand, essentially) and the highest braking amount when you lift off the accelerator is neither as strong as we'd like nor as consistent as it should be all the way down to a stop. We find the Bolt's performance, when used in its L mode, to be much more predictable and preferable.

A Look Inside

Inside, the Kona Electric looks like a grown-up vehicle. Clearly marked and logically grouped controls surround the driver, and it's easy to find an optimal driving position. The leather seats in the Ultimate trim level are well-proportioned and offer a suitable amount of adjustment. There's plenty of room up front, even for tall drivers. The rear seat, however, is another matter. It's wide, too, but there isn't enough legroom for taller passengers. Headroom is a little sparse, too. None of this differs from a regular Kona, but it suggests this one is not ideal for electrified Uber and Lyft drivers and the passengers who assign them star ratings.

The best part of the interior is the tech interface, which features a stand-up touchscreen with physical buttons set around the perimeter and knobs for volume and tuning. The on-screen menus and graphics are a little dated, but overall it's a system that's attractive and easy to use. Also, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay come standard.

The cargo area is just long enough with the seats up to tote carry-on suitcases lengthwise. From there you can drop the rear deck a couple of inches to create a deeper space or you can fold the 60/40-split rear seats flat to open things up lengthwise. Switching to electric has no effect on what you can carry. Maximum cargo capacity (45.8 cubic feet) is identical to the regular Kona's, as is total interior volume. Up front there's a decent-size glovebox, a squarish console box, an open "basement" shelf beneath the shifter, cupholders than can hold a small purse, and a hidden compartment that contains a wireless phone charge pad.

Pricing and Equipment

The Kona Electric will be offered in three grades: SEL, Limited and Ultimate. All have the same motor and 258 miles of range. All of them have the DC fast-charging port, 7.2-kilowatt on-board charger, multilevel regenerative braking system, and 17-inch alloy wheels shod with 215/55R17 tires. And they all get automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, cross-traffic alert and a rearview camera. What's different then?

The SEL has cloth upholstery, a six-way power driver's seat, heated front seats and a 7-inch touchscreen. The Limited adds leather, the sunroof, rain-sensing wipers, turn signals in its mirrors, LED headlights with automatic high beams, wireless phone charging and Infinity premium audio. The Ultimate adds the 8-inch touchscreen with built-in navigation, ventilated front seats, a head-up display, and stop-and-go functionality for the adaptive cruise control system.

Hyundai has not announced pricing, but that should come very soon. But it is worth noting that even the base SEL Kona Electric has equipment the base-level Bolt doesn't have: adaptive cruise control, DC fast charging and a lifetime main battery warranty. The latter is if you're thinking you'd like to own the Kona Electric for a long time. Many other EVs have warranties up to about 100,000 miles.

When Can I Get My Hands on One?

That's not entirely clear. Hyundai representatives are shooting for the last half of December, perhaps as late as the last week of the year. But this car will be sold in Europe and South Korea, too. EV fans on three continents are vying to get their hands on one, and from what we can see it looks like the wait will be worth it. The 2019 Kona Electric has the range to be more than a commuter EV, but it also has the driving appeal and the equipment to make it enjoyable for a weekend getaway.

Hyundai unveiled the U.S.-spec version of the 2019 Kona EV at the 2018 New York Auto Show today. Based on the standard Kona that just went on sale, the subcompact crossover SUV will challenge EVs such as the Chevrolet Bolt, the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Model 3.

The EPA estimates the Hyundai Kona EV will achieve 250 miles of range on a full charge and produce 201 horsepower and 291 pound-feet of torque. Power will be stored in a 64-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that will be able to charge to 80 percent in only 54 minutes if plugged into a Level 3 charger (100-kW DC fast-charging capabilities will be standard on all Kona EV models). By comparison, Level 2 charging will take a bit more than 9.5 hours.

Differences between the Kona and the Kona EV will be most noticeable up front: The EV eliminates the signature Hyundai grille in favor of a body-colored fascia that houses the charging port. Inside, a light gray color palette replaces the stark black cabin of the standard Kona, and the floating center console will feature a push-button gear selector.

We expect the Kona EV to be as user-friendly as the gasoline-powered Kona, with similar features that include a wireless charging pad, a head-up display, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Hyundai's Blue Link telematics. Available advanced safety features will include forward collision warning and mitigation, driver attention warning, lane keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, and automatic high beams.

The Kona EV's significant power advantage over its gasoline-reliant Kona siblings has the potential to make it our pick of the litter, especially since it should also benefit from the same strong driving dynamics and a roomy interior. Sales will begin at the end of 2018 in California, followed by other zero-emission vehicle-focused states (Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont). Pricing for the 2019 Hyundai Kia EV is unlikely to be announced until closer to the on-sale date; the standard 2018 Kona starts at $20,000.