Hyundai Kona Electric 2019 Review Long-term Test #1

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric is the first battery-powered SUV from Hyundai Australia, joining its hatchback sibling, the Hyundai IONIQ in what Hyundai promises to be a rapidly growing range of eco-friendly products for Australia.

Based on the existing Hyundai Kona small SUV, the Kona Electric is available in two variants – Elite and Highlander – priced from $59,990 (plus on-road costs) and promises up to 449km from a single charge of its liquid-cooled 64kWh lithium-ion polymer battery.

The Hyundai Kona Electric is powered by a 150kW/395Nm permanent magnet synchronous electric motor with a top speed of 167km/h. The front drive Kona Electric uses a ‘shift-by-wire’ reduction gear transmission with regenerative braking capabilities, which are adaptable via steering wheel-mounted paddles.

Our long-termer is the top-spec Kona Electric Highlander, priced from $64,490 (plus ORCs).

When I think about an electric vehicle my mind turns to questionable styling, range anxiety and charging woes. My time behind the wheel of the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric did nothing to appease my first-world EV issues.

I’ve got to admit that I love the sound of a V8 engine and experience a nostalgic flurry at the smell of two-stroke fuel. So, yes, the move to an electric vehicle will be quite a leap for me.

I’ve tried to approach my time in the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric with a very open mind to this subdued soundtrack a window to the future of motoring. Sobs.

Since its Australian launch in 2017, I’ve quite liked the quirky styling of the Kona, so the jump to the Kona EV was not a huge one for me.

And yet there’s still something about the covered in grille that I find a little out of whack. My initial thoughts were Silence of the Lambs. That’s since been downgraded to James Bond henchman Jaws (Richard Kiel) – a character I’m also strangely drawn to.

But enough about my Netflix choices. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I reckon anyone who loved the Kona will be forgiving in their assessment of the Kona Electric. It’s definitely grown on me.

In a word: tedious. But much of that is to do with the fact that I don’t have off-street parking and cannot find a type 2 fast charge station nearby. So for the two weeks I drove the Kona Electric, I ran a power cable from my front porch to the Kona.

I jimmied a porch-to-tree-to-car set up so the power cord wasn’t a tripping hazard to pedestrians – illegal and less than ideal, but my best solution.

The Hyundai Kona Electric does have a navigation feature that directs you to the nearest charge station (or one on your chosen journey). But, check compatibility and availability before you turn up. My closest was Collins Arch… a building construction site that will (one day) feature a fast charger.

To help ease my anxiety, during my time with the Kona Electric I downloaded four new Apps (PlugShare, ChargeFox, ChargePoint and Hyundai’s own app) that purport to reduce range anxiety, listing conveniently located charge stations.

The majority of public ones that I found were 6.6kW output, which would give me about 35km top up after one hour of charging - hardly worth the 3.9km journey to my closest. JetCharge offer a public fast charge station at their head office in North Melbourne. There’s also one in the car park at Camberwell Place in Hawthorn but they couldn’t tell me if it was Type 1 or 2.

Like many people, infrastructure problems are a significant barrier to my path to EV ownership. When the romance (it’s a thing) of the convenient at-home overnight charge disappears, the lure of zero-emissions motoring pales.

I realise that in time, with greater infrastructure, this issue will pass. If you thought filling up with petrol was your number one waste of time chore however, try searching for a nearby fast-charge station the night before your family holiday.

I realise the majority of people who buy an electric vehicle will install a fast charger at home… but where does that leave the great percentage of inner-city short-commute drivers (ideal candidates for Kona Electric ownership) who do not have off street parking?

For the record, the manufacturer’s charging times are reported as follows:

- Delta in-home charger ($1950) = 9hrs 35 mins
- DC fast charge station 100kW = 80% in 54 mins
- DC fast charge station 50kW = 80% in 75 mins
- Emergency in-cable control box using a 240AC 3-prong outlet = 28 hours

Over the Easter break we packed the Kona Electric to capacity ready to hit the Hume Highway early on Good Friday… with the rest of Melbourne.

That night prior I decided to top up the Kona Electric’s batteries, for good measure, despite having 280km range. I plugged it in. The green light flashed and I was sorted. A few hours later I found it had stopped charging… for no apparent reason, and failed to resume charging.

Around 10pm I tried again and it worked. Meanwhile anxiety was building. If I couldn’t rely on a basic 240-volt charger, what was I going to do?

Bound for Mitchelton Winery (who have two Tesla charge stations only) I knew the Kona Electric had plenty of range for the 139km one-way trip. I could almost do the return trip with an economical approach to driving.

When we arrived I decided to charge the Kona Electric via a 240-volt outlet in the hotel’s car park. Nearly 12 hours charging gave me close to 200km top up. Anxiety gone.

Where comfort and practicality go – electric genes aside – the Kona Electric proved an excellent family road trip car. It’s comfortable, quiet and well equipped. We used Apple CarPlay to chat to our road trip convoy mates, streamed music and played carsales back seat bingo (turns out we’re a family of cheaters).

The kids only complained a few times about the lack of air vents up back.

Adaptive cruise control was an absolute technology God-send in hectic Easter traffic, however, it did fail to engage on a couple of occasions, stating ‘conditions not met’ as the reason.

Our family has never been accused of packing light and this road trip was living proof, the 332-litre boot swallowing more gear than any family of four needed for a long weekend.

The struggle is real. The upshot of my several weeks with the Kona Electric is that unless I’ve got an at-home fast charger, I will not be purchasing an electric vehicle.

On the flipside, if I were in the market for an EV, the Kona Electric would most definitely be top of the list, its driveability and practicality, combined with great technology builds a compelling case for this compact, family-friendly EV.

From time to time we also take the opportunity to spend even longer with a vehicle. These longer-term tests can be as short as a couple of weeks, but more recently we’ve settled on a three-month period as indicative of ‘normal’ ownership.

Long-term tests give our staff writers and contributors a chance to get to know a car as an owner would. While the car is with us, we pay for fuel, the servicing, and generally use and live with the car as a new owner would.

We believe long-term tests give car buyers a deeper insight into the vehicle on test, but also the qualities behind the brand and nameplate. The extended period also allows us to touch base with the dealer networks in question.

It comes as no surprise that manufacturers tend to have a love-hate relationship with long-term tests. Three months is plenty long enough to fall out of love with the latest and greatest, and start to nit-pick — just like real owners do.