Tom's Guide's John Velasco drove the 2024 Hyundai Kona Electric for a week to find out how efficient it is and what makes this budget EV incredible. The Kona Electric Limited is a compact SUV with an estimated range of 200 miles and 201hp performance, so it's perfect for local traveling as long as you don't intend on doing much long-distance driving. Given its price, I was excited that it has extra features often found in more expensive EVs like Dynamic Cruise Control and Blind Spot Cameras.
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00:00I know EVs can be expensive.
00:03The cheapest one I tested so far was $65,000,
00:07but they don't have to cost you a fortune.
00:10This is the Hyundai Kona Electric,
00:12and the cool thing is that it starts at $31,000.
00:20So this one is the limited version of the Kona Electric.
00:23The difference is price, of course.
00:25This one, roughly, realistically,
00:26you could get it for around $42,000.
00:29The base model, which is the SE trim, that's $31,000.
00:33The other difference, too,
00:34is, of course, the power of the engine.
00:35So this one has a stronger 150-kilowatt engine
00:39versus 99-kilowatt hours,
00:41and basically, this one will get me 265 miles of range
00:45versus 200 for the other one, which is very low for an EV.
00:49I'd say most EVs nowadays would probably get around 300.
00:53There are a few exceptions
00:54that will get you closest to the 400-mile range,
00:56but they're rare.
00:58And some of the other differences
00:59between the limited version I'm driving and the standard
01:03is that you have a power sunroof here, power liftgate.
01:07You have, also, this leather-like material
01:09for the interior versus just standard cloth for the SE.
01:13You have, also, AC vents in the second row,
01:15which is great for your passengers.
01:18You also have Bose premium sound,
01:20better sound system there.
01:21Blind spot monitors, you have the cameras on the side.
01:24You could see your blind spots directly on the dashboard,
01:27and you also have the parking assistance,
01:29so all the cameras, all the sensors will help guide you
01:32as far as parking goes.
01:38Ooh, there we go.
01:40Charge power immediately.
01:41Power limited.
01:43Your destination is on the left.
01:52This has the smallest battery that I've tested in EV so far,
01:56roughly 65-kilowatt-hour battery,
01:59but its saving grace is its efficiency.
02:01Over the week, I've been test driving this,
02:02and it's currently at 4.5 miles per kilowatt-hour.
02:06Now, to put that into perspective,
02:08some of the best EVs go over four.
02:10I want to say three is in that sweet spot,
02:12and anything less is not that great.
02:13So even though it has a short 265 miles of range,
02:16it's really efficient with its battery.
02:19Here at the EVgo charging station, for only 19 minutes,
02:23we started at 10%, we're at roughly 47% charge,
02:27so it gave us a pretty good amount of charge
02:29in that small period of time.
02:31At home, I only have a level one charger.
02:33I don't have a level two.
02:34I know a level two is faster and better,
02:36but when I did connect it to the outlet,
02:40it gave me back 24 miles,
02:42and that took 10-plus hours to do,
02:45and if I kept it on there to let it charge,
02:47it would take over 81 hours to fully charge
02:50back up to 100%, so not really practical.
02:54The design kind of grew on me.
02:56At first, I was kind of skeptical.
02:58It's a little bit more on the bubbled side,
02:59but if you look at some of the elements,
03:01like the front, the bumper,
03:03it has a really nice modern look,
03:05especially at night with that strip light in the front.
03:08The parking lights light up, gives it a nice, cool vibe.
03:11It has almost this mint color, a little bit lighter,
03:14not too bright.
03:15It's a little bit on the smaller side, too,
03:17so if you're driving, you don't want something too big
03:20to drive around in, it's perfect,
03:22and I love the angle cutouts.
03:23You can see how round it is in the front,
03:25also in the back, and just the small details
03:28that give it a distinctive look on the road.
03:34It's been nearly a week since I first got the Kona Electric,
03:38and it drives smooth for the most part.
03:40It's, yes, kind of underpowered
03:41versus some other EVs I've tested,
03:43like the Lucid Air Pure,
03:45which if you haven't watched the video,
03:46check that out on the channel,
03:48but the reason for that is, of course,
03:50it's all about efficiency.
03:50There is this drive mode right here.
03:52You adjust the button, you could switch
03:54between eco mode, normal mode,
03:56and if you want the best responsiveness, the most power,
03:59then you wanna drive it in sporty mode.
04:01You get a little bit more power, obviously.
04:02You get that jolt, but it's just not as powerful.
04:05You got the blindside monitor,
04:07so when you're turning lanes,
04:09instead of looking through your side mirrors
04:10for your blind spots,
04:12you could rely on the blindside mirror cameras.
04:15It gives you a preview window
04:16to tell you if the lane's open.
04:17I've seen them mostly in higher-end EVs,
04:20luxury vehicles as well,
04:22and that's something I typically don't see
04:24in these affordable EVs.
04:27I'm also kind of surprised about Smart Cruise Control.
04:30Yes, I've seen it in all the other EVs I've tested,
04:33but not something this cheap.
04:35I'm just basically guiding the car.
04:37It has a set speed and also using all the sensors,
04:41so it knows what's around it.
04:42It senses what's in front of me, what's on the side,
04:45and it will maintain that speed.
04:46It's also intelligent enough to apply the brakes
04:49if I'm getting too close to a vehicle in front of me,
04:52and it'll also start accelerating once it starts moving away.
04:55The standard model also has Smart Cruise Control,
04:58so you're getting the same experience, but at a lower cost.
05:03Having the Kona Electric for a week has been enjoyable.
05:06It's a fun little compact-size SUV.
05:09Good amount of features.
05:10I love the price, and for someone like myself
05:14who wants that extra utility of the trunk space and all that,
05:17I find a lot of value in that versus just a sedan.
05:20Obviously, all the other EVs I've tested were more expensive.
05:23If I had the money, I'd buy them all,
05:25but realistically, they're out of my league.
05:28That's why I like the Kona Electric.
05:30It's priced right there.
05:32For any budget, you're not gonna be spending
05:34too much on an EV.
05:35You get the advantages of the efficiency
05:38and also the cost savings.
05:40So what do you guys think?
05:41Let me know in the comments below.
05:42Don't forget to watch all of our other videos
05:44on our channel.
05:45Follow us on social, at Tom's Guide.
05:48I'm John B., and I'll see you in my next video.