Hyundai Kona Electric Premium SE
So, I’ve had the car since the beginning of April 21 and so far covered 4500 miles. It’s been updated to the Ultimate spec now which adds a sunroof, wireless Apple car play but loses out on the battery heater.
I think I’ve finally got to the end of the manual and all the options and really getting a hang of driving EV’s, so here’s my verdict so far:
Good
The car is really easy to drive, very comfortable and easy to get a great driving position, handles well, very little body roll and does a reasonable job over pot holes.
The Automatic Cruise Control (ACC) is really cool, love how it tracks vehicles in front, you have to watch their speed though as it’s so quiet, you don’t always realise that you’ve adopted their speed, on dual carriageways and motorway, just move into the next lane and it resumes the speed
Hidden in the menus is an Autorecuperate function, this is an awesome idea, basically, you don’t worry about regeneration, and leave the car to do it. It works similar to the ACC, but instead of controlling the speed, it controls the braking, a small box on the dash starts white, but when it picks up a car in front, turns blue, if that car brakes or slows down, and you’re in range, the car automatically applies regenerative braking and slows you, the car moves away and the braking stops, but if the car carries on breaking, it will gently apply more breaking, it works and saves wasted energy. You can also just about forget the foot brake, holding back the left flappy padel applies the regen braking and you can come to a complete stop with that.
Performance is stunning, 0-60 in 6.3 sec, mid range pickup for overtaking is better than my old BMW (190bhp, 400lb Torque, 4WD Automatic), starts tailing off over 80, but just to see what the car could get to, I did hit 109mph, but that’s really not the point of EV’s as the economy is killed by a heavy, even if enjoyable right foot.
The In car entertainment system is really easy to use and intuitive, the iDrive in the BMW was easier though, most functions are reached through physical buttons, so reduces time hunting in menus, The Krell stereo (Well 8 speakers not 2) is really good, loads of base and really well balanced, a vast improvement on the basic BMW set up. The Sat Nav is also good, and I love that the directions are projected up on the HUD.
Reversing camera works well, could be higher definition if I’m being picky, but makes reversing a breeze.
Aircon is also controlled with physical buttons and dials and works really well, mainly have it off or on driver only, the heated seats are great, with 3 heat settings (and 3 stages of cooling for the summer), the heated steering wheel though is either on or off and can get too hot!
BlueLink app seems to work well, great to be able to sit in the flat, find where I’m going, send the route straight to the car. Can check the battery is charging while you’re out, and what range you have available. Also gives you the ability to lock/unlock the car, and best of all start the car warming itself up/defrosting the car. I thought that the car had to be plugged into the mains for this function, but no, it works even when not on charge.
LED headlights are really powerful, and the auto hi beam is really quick to function. The car also has extra lights that turn on to illuminate the edges of the road when you are turning.
Hyundai supply both a Type 2 cable and a Granny Charger as standard
Bad/Not so good
Still missing the firm clunk of the doors closing
I’ve turned off the lane keeping assistant, it’s just too sensitive
You need to wipe the ACC sensor clean every few days in this weather or it won’t work
Regen can be confusing to work out the best one to be in, but see Autorecuperate above
Shame some of the functions (Auto hold mainly) have to be reselected every time you turn the car off
Shame Apple Car Play needs you to connect via a cable, I have one of the big phones, and that still fits in the QI charging slot, but not with a cable on, although it still charges as the cable provides that
No car mats, just ordered some online
Plastics inside are not up to BMW standards, but theres nothing wrong with them
Costs of driving
I can’t have a home charger, so forced to use public chargers, which potentially, can be much more expensive (Ionity chargers are 69p kWh but super fast). My initial calculations were based on an average of 15p kWh, as long as I don’t pay more than 55p kWh, the car would be cheaper than my old one (Based on the current price of diesel at £1.26 ltr and 51.6mpg)
I’m amazed how many chargers are free, in fact, there is a free 50kWh charger 10 miles away, so far, I’ve covered 4529 miles and it’s cost £88, less than 1.9p a mile.
Verdict so far
It’s the most fun driving I’ve had in years, probably only beaten by track days at Silverstone or driving Scimiter AFV’s in the military.
Range anxiety hasn’t been an issue, even the cold snap we had a few days ago, I could have covered 260 miles without charging. I think the difference is I’d run an ICE till it was nearly empty, now, if there’s a chance to charge, especially if it’s free, I plug it in.
Would I go back to an ICE, NEVER, but If I could afford it and had the space, I’d still love a TVR for those few summer days when you could enjoy it.
Previous Motability Cars
2006 - 2009 Skoda Superb VR6 2.0tdi
2009 - 2012 Citroen C5 2.0tdi VTR Nav
2012 - 2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.5dci tekna
2015 - 2018 Ford Kuga 2.0tdi Titanium X
2018 - 2021 BMW 220d X drive 2 Series Active Luxury
2021 - 2023 Hyundai Kona Electric Premium SE
2023 - Hyundai Kona Electric Ultimate