Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander 2021 Review

When you’re staring in the face an on-road price of around $70,000 for the flagship 2021 Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander, an increase of $650 isn’t a deal breaker. It’s less than a one per cent increase, in fact.

And you do get an improved infotainment touch-screen, which now measures 10.25 inches rather than the 8.0-inch unit of the early Highlander variant.

Hyundai has achieved this without making major changes to the dash by shifting buttons formerly flanking the screen to a row underneath, between the large volume and tuning knobs.

Standard features fitted include Apple CarPlay/Android Auto smartphone integration, digital radio (DAB+), a head-up display and wireless smartphone charging.

The Kona Electric Highlander shares its 17-inch alloy wheels with the lower-spec Electric Elite – the latter priced from $60,740 plus on-road costs, compared to the Highlander at $65,290 plus ORCs – but the flagship model also comes with 10-way electric adjustment for the driver’s seat and eight-way electrically-adjustable front passenger seat, heated and cooled front seats, heated steering wheel, a glass sunroof, auto-dipping interior mirror, head-up display and front map lights.

Equipment shared across the range includes an electronic parking brake, rain-sensing wipers, auto-on headlights, keyless entry/start, satellite navigation, Bluetooth, leather upholstery, electric windows, heated power fold-in exterior mirrors and climate control.

Hyundai sells the Kona Electric with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty (with an eight-year/160,000km warranty for the battery), plus 12 months of roadside assistance and 12-month/15,000km service intervals.

The importer also offers lifetime or pre-paid service plans and a satellite navigation update plan.

Across the Hyundai Kona Electric range, active safety features extend to blind spot monitoring, driver fatigue monitoring, lane keep assist, rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and tyre pressure monitoring.

Naturally, mandated systems such as ABS and stability control are also fitted.

When it comes to the 2021 Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander, high beam assist and front parking sensors are also included.

Standard passive safety features for all variants include front, side and curtain airbags, crash-activated automatic door unlocking and the usual gamut of seatbelt pretensioners and ISOFIX child safety seat anchorage (with top tether too) at three points. 

ANCAP tested the Kona Electric in September 2019 and granted it the same five-star rating of the conventional Hyundai Kona variants, based on the crash safety authority’s 2017 test protocol.

Vehicles like the 2021 Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander exist chiefly to reduce global CO2 emissions.

They must be practical in real-life traffic, however, and it’s pleasing to note that the Kona is all of that and more.

As I had previously tested the same variant of the Kona Electric over a long-term test, there was little new to me with this edition of the Highlander EV, other than the infotainment system (see above).

This time around, our testing was conducted in lighter traffic conditions and brought interesting figures not seen during the Kona Electric’s previous long-term test.

At the depot where I picked up the Kona, there was 381km of range available from its fully-charged battery. After 24 hours, the Kona had travelled 47.3km all up, including just over 22km of freeway and the rest arterial roads and suburban side streets limited to 60km/h. In theory, that should have reduced the range to about 333km, but the low-impact freeway motoring had used less juice and the battery retained sufficient charge for a range of 349km.

But a day later, a run to school and back to drop off one of the progeny reduced the range from 349km to 323km – a difference of 26km, or more than double the actual distance travelled. The overall average was still about right, however, for a total distance travelled of 58.3km over the two days.

Over the course of the easier run on the first day, the Kona drew power from the battery at the commendable rate of 13.5kWh for the 35.7km from the pick-up point to home base.

But subsequent driving saw the power consumption rise to 14.5kW at one stage – still an impressively low rate – before finishing up the week back at the depot for an average of 14.3kWh.

Travelling less than 150km over the course of the week, the Kona was returned with plenty of battery charge remaining – without requiring any top-up from a public charging station or domestic power supply.

As for performance, the Kona when set to Sport mode is undeniably quick enough and responsive in a straight line.

Cars that are sensitive to the environment can be less sensitive to the needs of humans on board, but the 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander is not one of those.

It’s as quiet as you would expect of an electric vehicle – except for the droning pedestrian warning sound – and it rides comfortably too.

While the Kona is not the most engaging drive, it remains fairly decent for handling and steering response.

The standard Nexen 215/55 R17 tyres are flat out – so to speak – riding quietly and comfortably and using less energy without being called upon to deliver great handling and grip as well. But given the conflicting mission objectives, the tyres do manage respectably well.

Behind the wheel of the Kona there’s plenty of adjustment available with the driver’s seat for a commanding but accommodating view of the instruments, controls and the road ahead. The seats happen to be fairly well shaped and comfortable, but could do with a little extra length in the base for under-thigh support.

About the only other whinge is the lack of a seat position memory, something available in the considerably cheaper Hyundai IONIQ Electric, for example.

All the controls are placed where they should be and most are labelled clearly for quick reference. The head-up display is simple to adjust for drivers of different heights.

Rear seat accommodation is a little tight for legroom if the occupants are adults of average size, and the lack of adjustable vents back there is an oversight in even a small SUV at this price.

Having enjoyed a week or so in the Kona Electric Highlander a year ago, I handed it over to my wife. Coincidentally, we also had an IONIQ Electric at home, so we had an unexpected opportunity to test two electric vehicles, differently packaged and priced, but from the same marque.

After a 50km journey in each over the same route but on consecutive days, my wife was forced to admit – because she’s not a car person and would always opt for the cheaper option – that the more expensive Kona is the better option, especially for ride comfort, range and the field of vision.

The horizontal bar in the tailgate glass of the IONIQ and the passenger car’s swoopier front pillars were a constant distraction for her.

Inevitably, the Kona will draw comparison with other EVs, such as the BMW i3 S and the Tesla Model 3.

There’s also the new kid on the block, the MG ZS EV, which competes in the same segment as the Hyundai Kona Electric but significantly undercuts it at $40,990 plus ORCs – the most affordable price point for an EV in Australia.

We’re yet to run the Kona Electric and the ZS EV back-to-back, but have already judged the Kona to be a better package than the BMW.

And while the Model 3 looked very competitive at $66,000 at launch, the volatility of the Aussie dollar often drives the price of the Tesla up by thousands of bucks at a time. Furthermore, as appealing as the Model 3 is, in many ways its build quality is spotty and it doesn’t boast the range of the Kona.

Which still makes the Hyundai the benchmark in this sector of the market, as long as your sums add up.

How much does the 2021 Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander cost?
Price: $65,290 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Permanent magnet AC synchronous motor
Output: 150kW/395Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 64kWh lithium-ion polymer
Range: 557km (ADR)
Energy consumption: 131kWh/100km (ADR)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2017)