After surprising everyone during its presentation last March, the new generation of the electric Hyundai Kona has started its production for Europe at the plant that the Korean manufacturer has in the Czech Republic. A new model that improves in every one of the aspects of the previous version, and that arrives wanting to gain a foothold in an increasingly competitive market.
Hyundai has high hopes for this new version and expects electric Kona to represent around 15% of the plant’s total production by the end of this year.
For this, Hyundai has worked hard and as a result, they have launched a Kona that has grown 15 centimeters in a set where the number of centimeters is not the most important thing, but the use of it that is reflected in greater habitability, and above all in a load capacity in “their trunks” that is shot.
This is thanks to the use of a new platform that has been designed from the ground up to house an electrical system. Thanks to this, the Kona goes from having one of the smallest trunk capacities in its segment to having one of the highest. Specifically, the Korean model goes from just 332 liters to the new 466 liters. And in addition, we find a new “frunk” or front trunk.
For the rest, without a doubt, the most visible changes are in its exterior design, much more attractive, and also in an interior where the Kona receives the configuration that we have seen in other members of the Hyundai family, such as the vertical screen of the IONIQ 5, to which will be added a 12-inch head-up display that will project the image onto the windshield.
The Czech plant will continue to produce two versions of the electric Kona with different battery capacities, both offering greater performance and range than previous versions.
The most basic will be a pack of 48.4 kWh and 377 km of range, associated with a 115 kW (156 CV) engine. Something that allows you to improve the benefits of the previous access variant.
For its part, the most capable also sees its capabilities improved, mounting a powerful 160 kW (218 CV) motor that is powered by a 65.4 kWh battery, which gives it an approved range of 514 km.
The cells that make up the Kona Electric battery are manufactured at the LG Energy plant in Wroclaw, Poland. The assembly of the high-voltage batteries is carried out in the same plant that until the end of 2021 manufactured manual transmissions for diesel and gasoline passenger cars.
We need to know the aspect of fast charging, in a new electric Kona that will start in Europe at 41,990 euros, which will mean maintaining the rates of the current generation, but that will not include elements such as the heat pump, nor the Type cable. 2 serial.
A price that in the case of the Long Range variant, possibly rises to 45,000 euros, which will place it almost 5,000 euros above the MG4 Long Range (520 km WLTP) and also very close to the 46,490 euros of the Tesla Model Y Standard (455km WLTP).
