NEW Hyundai Kona Electric Review: An Affordable 400 Mile EV?! 4K 

That "Alright" at the end of the Hyundai rant was the most British thing I saw this week!

Thumbs up just for the Hyundai pronunciation rant!

I like the fact that you talk about the range in harsher real world conditions, such as cold temperatures and driving normally with stuff turned on. That’s what the customer needs to know.

best car I've owned in a long time. Driven nearly 6,000 miles in it from brand new with no issues. so cheap to run, been on many long distance drives love it. perhaps has too much torque at times - have managed to wheelspin at 50 mph!

That rant was just epic 😂👌

Top gears worse off without you, Rory 👌👌👌👌👌

Great review. Mine is over 2 years old now. It’s had 2 regular services and nothing has ever gone wrong on it. It’s so cheap to run and great to drive. I still love it 😊

The fact that it has physical knobs for the common functions of ICE and AC, means I'd choose this over a VW without question any day.

Thank you. For me, YOU have become the best online car review commentator, from a multitude on RU-vid. Proud of you keeping our American friends in-lane with how we pronounce vehicle brands and names. Keep-up the great work.

Thanks Rory another cracking review, accurate and informative, I like the fact that you are critical as well as offering praise keep up the good work

Got mine in 2018 and have done just over 50,000 miles so far. Still love it and as you say it’s the combination of the battery size and the efficiency that means it’s still hard to beat, particularly at a time when many parts of the country are still served by 50kW rapids. Took mine to Shetland in September with two sea kayaks on the roof and it was a piece of cake!

That rant was everything!!!! Hahahaaaa great review as usual!!!

You tell em Rory lad!! 🇬🇧 in the house. 📣

The "7.9 seconds" to 60mph still makes me laugh....it's such fun. Fully charged it delivers more like 210bhp and with Michelins on will get under 7 seconds to 60. 60k miles in mine now and I still shake my head at how good it is.

We ran the first Ioniq electric for last 2 years and was planning the next EV for March. On a range to lease cost nothing could get close to the 64kwh. We put range and practicality ahead of everything else. Pure utility. 😊

Had to drop a like for that rant 2:15 HAHAHAHAH too funny.

Thank you Rory, and Hyundai it is. I was a bit confused at the beginning when you said 300 miles, but then when you explained how you came up with the figures it made more sense. I still have not made the switch to hybrid or full ev yet, but they are getting better and it is more difficult to ignore the benefits.

One of the best electric car reviewers on RU-vid. 👍👍 In Belgium the price difference is HUGE entry level petrol is 21.200€ entry level electric is 35 000€ a whopping €13 800 of a difference. The cheapest 64KW version is 42 500 more than 100% more expensive than the petrol version 🙄🙄 I haven't done the math but at todays electric prices I'd need to do several 100 000 KM per year to make up that difference in 10 years. Yes I would save something on maintenance and possibly around 1500€ in taxes over 10 years but paying double the price I doubt many will be taking Hyundai up on this.

Eggcellent review! I've owned a Kona EV since March of 2019 and now have around 53,000 miles on it as a near daily driver. I commute around 80 miles a day round trip and have a Level 2 charger installed. Recently had my battery replaced under the recall which was done as a safety measure. My original battery showed no observable degradation over the first 50,000 miles and when I bought mine, the battery warranty was listed as "Lifetime" - naturally I save the original Window Sticker! Within a year, new Hyundai Kona electrics were limited to 10 years, 100,000 mile battery warranty. My car has been basically trouble-free. After I hit something on the freeway and damaged a tire, I replaced all four Nexxens with Kuhmo TA-31s because I'm basically value conscious and because we've had those same tires on other Hyundai vehicles with good service. Immediately the massive wheel slip of the OEM Nexxen tires was gone, along with the sensation the car might decide to slide sideways off the road! The TA-31's have more grip and while it's still possible to spin the front tires, it's also easier to regulate said spin by throttle control. I'm not sure where that sad acceleration number originated, but my car runs 0-60 in under 7 seconds, and no weird turning the wheels prior to "launch" is needed, though it is definitely a handful if accelerated hard coming out of a turn. If Hyundai or an aftermarket house were to develop some "old school" style traction bars to eliminate tail squat and force the front tires down, the car could easily drop to a solid 6 second performer. As it is, due to the instant on torque, and no gears to shift, in stoplight racing (California style driving) the Kona electric can easily rocket off the line and be 10 car lengths ahead before all the ICE vehicles realize they've been left standing. Even then it's impossible for anything NOT a high-horsepower performance car to catch the Kona between stoplights are even up to 80-90 mph! The sensation of electric motor acceleration must be experienced to be appreciated. After having adapted to the instant on, instant off power delivery of the Kona EV, driving an ICE car feels sluggish, and labor intensive. In heavy traffic I like to run with full regen because it allows instant 0.25 G deceleration with a full let-off which is much faster than any human can come off the go pedal and onto the brake. I've found I can get best mileage by accelerating to speed in traffic, then coasting, regen off as the Kona will coast a LONG way, and a light touch on the pedal adds a bit of speed when needed. I normally use regen for all slowing and stopping, so if I am coasting, as I approach the stop, regen is added in stages with a final, "full pull" to bring the car to a halt. When using the left paddle to stop, the car will remain motionless after release, allowing the foot to be poised over the go pedal for quickest response when the light changes. Stopping with the foot pedal, followed by release allows the car to roll forward in the same manner as ICE cars, and this comes in handy when creeping along in heavy traffic. When I first got my Kona electric I was able to coax it up to 6.5 and higher miles per KWh, but now I seem to struggle to get above 4 mi/KWh but this isn't the car's fault, it's the driver's fault for enjoying the car's acceleration a bit too much, and because I also used to baby it on the freeway going 55mph, and now I blast along at 70, 75, and 80mph, and where as I used to use heat sparingly on cold mornings, now I use it to achieve comfort. After charging the anticipated range displayed is based on prior usage, but by comparing range remaining to range driven the car is revealing a real-time expected range. There is no doubt the Kona EV can exceed 350 miles on a charge in city driving, possibly push 400! The REAL negative on EV adoption in the United States is the hap-hazard approach to locating charging stations. Rather than co-locate them with gas stations in their own, dedicated area, most end up somewhere off the freeway in a parking lot somewhere, with ICE cars deliberately parked in the way, and of course inadequate oversight of such behavior. Also the fear of arriving at a charger only to find it's out of service, with no where else to charge looms large. With ICE cars if you roll into gas station with out of order pumps - usually only one or two out of a dozen, you just choose another, or drive across the street to another station, or down the road 5 miles to another station, but with electric cars, the stations are still quite spread out, plus, as more EVs start using fast charging, 40 minute charge-ups have a significant impact on trip time. A month ago I needed to take a round trip of around 400 miles, which mandated a charging stop along the way. Certainly I located many potential charge stations located "near" the route of travel, but I was still leery of committing to a journey without the same level of "refueling certainty" I've known with ICE vehicles, plus, a trip already guaranteed to take 6 hours, would have had another 50 minutes added on to charge. I ended up taking my wife's Santa Fe Limited. I made a five minute fuel stop on the way home without any anxiety about charging or adding more time to the trip.

Brilliant Rory! I loved your Hy-un-dai rant, had to laugh. Had to keep going back to re watch it. Alright.Sorted 😂 Keep up the great work.

I've had the pre-facelift for two half years, I get around 230 miles, 64kw battery, each charge. It's a great little car, although the low roll resistance tyres are a little hairy in the wet, especially consider the extra weight and the AEB is too sensitive. The only issue I've had, is it wont down load the mobile phone directory. Hyundai did take the car away but gave me a replacement EV for about a month while they did, I don't know what to it, it seemed fine before and has been fine since. Everybody who've tried it, are impressed. It's been enjoyable first step in to the electric car adventure.

Thank god they kept the physical steering wheel and HVAC buttons. Its good they ditched the gloss black because now there will be no fingerprints to clean up. Nice review. Keep up the good work.

I have the Kona ultimate 2022 model and I have to say it’s fantastic! I went 277 miles. From Southend to Buckfastleigh without having to charge and still had 33 miles left!! Perfect car, drives itself!

I live in Korea. I speak Korean. In Korean, its 현대. In English, that's pronounced Hyon Dae, with a soft 'ae', more like 'eh'. In its native language, it's pronounced (not 100% exactly) Hyon-de, with a very soft 'E'. Anyway, I'm partial to pronouncing things as the country they were created them in intended, so that's my bit :)

I think having separate indicators is no bad thing. I find that with some cars with indicators integrated into the rear lights, you can hardly see the indicators at night when the rear lights are on.

Hands down the best car review presentation I have ever seen, and funny too.

Brilliant Rory. Great video and really giggled with your Hyundai pronunciation. And the burn out like you were in car park in the 90s, brilliant.

Separate indicators ( both front and rear ) in the Australian sun are a good idea. If they are contained in the same light cluster they can be quite hard to see, especially in the summer. Glad you can pronounce Hyundai correctly 🇦🇺

Only £450 a month or £5400 a year for a pcp is that what you call affordable nowadays. 🙁

Amazing review, as always 👍 keep it up!

My next car will likely be a Hyundai (rhymes with “Sunday”) EV. They’re just doing all the right things in terms of EVs.

got one enroute, be here very end of year, so this cheered me up as i never had electric b4. nice.

what you need to do is a comparison test between the Kona, the Mg ZS and MG5, also peugeot 2008 and maybe some others under 30K

Great stuff Rory. Seriously considering this as my next car!

That number plate says ENZO! In Italy we'd like doing some jokes about that 😄

The Denzel Washington of car reviewers. Great review again. Shame your not still on Top Gear as you were the most enjoyable to listen to and watch. Any chance of reviewing a RWD KIA EV6.

Love the rant! Being close to the US in Canada we are always being attacked with the butchered English. LoL

Great review. I live in Utah and there is very limited access to EVs outside of the Tesla and the Nissan Leaf. Test drove the Tesla and while a great ride, I felt like I was driving an IPad and did not like the Tesla design. I own a 2019 Santa Fe and appreciate the Hyundai warranty so wanted to stay in this eco system and purchased my Kona EV Limited 2022 in June in neighbor state Colorado. I appreciate the sporty look and the many interior features you described and it is zippy on the freeway and handles curves exceptionally well in our many canyon roads with great mileage. Thanks for guidance on the correct way to say Hyundai :-)

YOUR PRONUNCIATION IS SPOT ON, this from a Korean American. Good review, thank you. I'm definitely interested in e-cars. Liked and subscribed.

Best rant on pronunciation! Thank you for setting some of us 🇺🇸 straight on that.

I have the 2020 model and love it. I won't be upgrading anytime soon but I do recommend it. That roughly 9-10 km per kWh is pretty typical at those speeds of 30-60 km/h but at 12c that's pretty nice. Similarly the 4-5 mark is typical at that 2c temperature. I'm usually driving 80-100 km/h going to work and average around 7 km/kWh. I'll get close to 8 driving mostly at 80 km/h and 6 at 100 km/h. It's important to remember that the faster you go, the worse the efficiency. Speeding is going to have a much more tangible effect on efficiency compared to a gas powered car. During my Canadian winters the efficiency still hovers around 4.5 km/kWh so still decent. I drove 1184km in August which cost $13.88 CDN in electricity. Gas is $1.44/L where I live right now while electricity is $0.082/kWh. Going to my first service, 1 year after buying the car soon. Definitely worth considering if you're looking at a new car.

Nice review! And nice music at the end!

This guy is by far the best car reviewer. Well done mate!

I’m in the US and I noticed the difference in pronunciation and immediately accepted yours as being correct.👍 Not all Americans are ignorant and arrogant. 😁 Love your content 😍

Actually it does 0-60 in 6.8 seconds when measured with timing gear. I love the smart auto regeneration feature, uses radar etc to adjust recuperation. No review mentions this feature as it is hidden deep in the settings menu. Speed camera alerts using onboard camera and navigation is great, and the adaptive cruise control with lane keep assist, plus the self steering mode is fantastic. I could go on.....

Great review. Thanks!

A great review Rory thank you. So pleased to hear yr remarks about pronunciation of the word HYUNDAI.

Excellent car...I had one for 3 years....biggest drawback compared to my id3 is interior space which is not as good and I prefer RWD but Kona is a solid very reliable car

The silver in the steering wheel and center console looks and feels premium to me, atleast. Gloss piano Black would make it all black and it scratches up very easily and catches on to dust like anything.

I love your reviews, with fairness, professional honesty and so on. You are the best......

Great review. I remember when the Hyundai first came to the states. They put a full page advertisement instructing us to pronounce it like Sunday. At the auto show they pronounced it like you did. The correct way.

You tell em Rory 🤟🏾🤟🏾🤟🏾

The lights are split so you can still see the hazards when the boot is open... its a regulation requirement

Thanks great review glad I’ve ordered one now 😊

Slamming down the boot after the pronunciation rant!! :) Enjoyed that, keep up the good reviews Rory!

I have the Kona electric, best car I've had by far. The thing that lets electric cars down is the lack of working chargers out in the wild. I found 6 of the 8 chargers not to be working on a recent road trip which was meant to take 6 hours including charging and rest breaks. Because of the broken chargers, it took 12.

You’re savage Rory 😎🤙🏻

Great delivery rory!! I love it when you beat the yanks up 😂😂

Rory I love your EV reviews! You really hit every corner of the car and don’t pull any punches on criticisms. Also I agree that you’re pronouncing “Hyundai” correctly. Don’t take any s**t from the fools in the comments.

Yes Rory we in Aus pronounce it the same as the motherland! All advertising by Hyundai here pronounces it the same as you do in the UK! PS. Love your reviews.

Having picked up my Kona 2 months ago I can confirm its efficiency. In my average commute across town I'm getting around 5.5 to 5.8 miles per kW. Also something Rory didn't mention is the excellent adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist which when combined together on motorways is like a basic version Tesla's autopilot.

Love your car reviews! Really helping us make the right decision in looking for an efficient yes good looking car. Can you please review the kia niro electric in comparison to kona too please?

Love the review, waiting delivery for ours. Kona EV Ultimate in Pulse Red. Can I ask, is the heater good on this Car ? I know it has heated seats and steering wheel, but I’m told the heater is not as good as ‘normal’ car. We cannot wait for ours. 👍👍

No nonsense lmao straight to the point.

Great review. I'm 6' 0" and sat and drove the 2021 Kona EV Ultimate and felt cramped inside. The Kona EV needs AWD with the torque it produces. For the pricing in North America, the Ioniq 5 AWD over this any day of the week.

I just got one a few months back. Its pretty good, Mine is the base model though so I don't have the sunroof, Projection HUD, wireless charging mat, LED lights, maps etc. I would like to upgrade some of those things in the future if possible. Soon as they gimme the call on the battery recall I'm golden. Also, pulling burnouts with 1000lbs of extra traction weight, AKA the 64kwh battery, is gonna be a tall order for all but the most determined.

You make me 😃 smile. Love your reviews.

Why the 400 miles range in the title?

Did test drive Great car but Seat comfort was not that good as in my Prius 2004 the only reason didn’t got it

As Kona owner very much agree with assessment. Great video!

Great review! Thank you!

And while we’re at it American friends, it’s JAG-U-AR not JAG-WAH!! I thank you.

I wish they would make the Tucson electric. Love that car!!!

Nice review Rory, thanks! Canadian here, my wife pronounces it the same as you, I've been correcting her to the "American" pronunciation... Sent her the video, so she could be right for once. Totally agree with you on the "physical knobs"... we've pre-ordered a Ioniq5, and they did the same thing... thumbs up!

This is the 2nd video of yours I've watched. I'm an American and when I heard you pronounce Hyundai I hadn't heard it pronounced that way and when you added the rant I busted out laughing. That piece right there made this video for me, thanks.

Rory and Joe Achilles are the best at reviewing cars.

Hyundai is a Korean brand - the Korean pronunciation is the correct way “Heeon-Dae” lol

Excellent as always Rory. Have you tested the eNiro yet?

With respect and since you addressed the topic, wouldn't it be most appropriate to pronounce 'Hyundai' the way it is used in Korea. I have not researched this so I do not have an answer however, you did state the company gave you the correct pronunciation so I think I'd go with that. Enough on that. ;) I recently acquired a 2022 Tucson Hybrid and thus far, I'm loving it! Thank you for your videos and have a fantastic New Year!

lol love the Hyundai rant. I find myself in the US saying "Hy-un-dai" in my head and I work with a Hyundai dealership so I'm saying it pretty often. (For what it's worth, we don't pronounce the Y at all. We say it like "Sunday" but with an H at the beginning. Like Hunn-Day)

I have one of these and love it but I’m confused about your range. I was told 415 klms by the dealer and in the summer I’m averaging 450-475 but that klms not miles. Btw. I’m Canadian and you pronounce Hyundai correctly, 🙂

What a thorough review. Thank you.

Another clear and informative video, thanks. Enjoyed the pronounciation rant

new logo looking sharp

not sure affordable is the right word

How is the noise level in the Kona and is there a difference between the first version and the facelifted Kona? Thanks

For some reason I always thought this channel was German and never clicked on any od the videos. Today I accidentally opened one video and was happily surprised. Really like your style and now I have huge backlog to watch.

I thought Americans call it a Hoondai, or Hundai.

Rory, you make me laugh "it's not going to melt your face off". Looks a good EV option.

Aside from WLTP or any other "combined cycle" type range test, there's a simple one that I would like to see which is "How far will it got at a constant 70mph?" because there's a big difference between doing the school run and city driving where the speeds are low and the recovery options are high. However flip that to a constant drain at high speed and that's when the range anxiety kicks in.

Ahh i loved the rant!!

He shoots, he scores. Another Roryseal Road Review that does exactly what it says on the tin.

“£450 p/m. Now that sounds a lot…” That’s because it is.

Great video, Rory. Can you please do the Cupra Born? I really want one!

Drove one today for work. Was pleasantly surprised. Great little car.

The shape of the front end looks like a beluga whale

I’d actually just like an i30 or Ceed electric. I’m not sold on the styling of the Kona, but want a family sized ev for our local journeys and occasional longer trips, but I’m stumped at the mo. I want an ev that’s good to look at, fun to drive, that is efficient and affordable (

Just picked up our 22 kona EV!! We love it so far

Good reporting 👍 thank you

😁😅That pronunciation joke is very hilarious 🤔.. Like many i didn't know this until late.. 😁.. Buts this time its right the mistake was them.