[Sebring]

Trident Hyundai called me for a Test Drive on Friday, the 12th. And I was one of the first to be amazed by what it offers. Size is more 'Venueish' that Creta. The long drive was almost entirely in Eco mode and had more than adequate 'pull'. I didn't miss my other car at all. The power delivery is linear and the torque is excellent. Seats are very good and comfortably seats four. Five would be a stretch. Paddle shifters add to the convenience. The car is fully loaded with 6 airbags, and you don't miss much in terms of features. Cooling is good. The central area has two tiers (very unique) making it very handy for front passengers. Ground clearance is at 205 MM and was good on humps/rough roads. Loved the Nexen tyres which were super grippy and made the drive very sporty. If this is the direction electrics are headed, bring them on.

(Since most of the pictures are shared already, here are a few that you have not seen. Do take a test drive of this revolutionary product!)

[sgiitk]

At the moment it looks like it, that this may become a class leader. It may be a car to beat. Hyundai have a decent record for quality and maintenance. Good this open up the game for all. A lot may depend on how good is the charging infrastructure?

[Sankar]

Globally Hyundai should launch one more powertrain variant of of Kona.

1) The 39kWh model with 100kW motor which is available.

2) The 64kWh model with 150kW motor, which is also available. This is for people who need more performance and more range.

3) The 64kWh model with 100kW motor for people who doesn't need more performance but would like to have an even better range.

Why aren't they doing this? Option number three should provide the best range, no? Performance maybe slightly lower than the current 39kWh model due to the extra weight of 64kWh pack, but shouldn't worry a lot of people.

[Sebring]

As per them, IOC has agreed to have charging infra at every bunk. so it's a good start. Every Hyundai showroom and service will have charging points, and there is a 'mobile charging car' as well. The range is the biggest worry, and they got it covered, for now! So peace of mind. Deliveries start from August, and the Dealer had 15 bookings already (Bangalore, being an early adopter and tech leader)

Originally Posted by sgiitk

that this may become a class leader.

[GoBlue]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Globally Hyundai should launch one more powertrain variant of of Kona.

3) The 64kWh model with 100kW motor for people who doesn't need more performance but would like to have an even better range.

Why aren't they doing this? Option number three should provide the best range, no? Performance maybe slightly lower than the current 39kWh model due to the extra weight of 64kWh pack, but shouldn't worry a lot of people.

The ECO drive mode could have been tuned to deliver increased range at the expense of power delivery.
Having a motor rated for lower peak output may not be required.
This is my guess, based on the understanding of a similar feature in the Nissan Leaf..

[Mukund]

A good move by Hyundai, though this is not going to be a best seller or VFM product, it will still find takers among those searching for exclusivity, bragging rights, early adopters, climate conscious folks etc. (should be easily able to do more than the 100/year expectation). The pricing seems good especially with the incentives and no road tax here in Karnataka.
What it gives us is a glimpse into the future of automobiles, once these start getting manufactured locally, costs will also eventually come down.
Saw the car today, and yes, it looks more like a crossover (S-Cross ish) than a compact SUV, it's rear is good (looked butch and wider than regular hatches) and does have a unique presence. The rear diffuser and flared wheel arches are well done, so is the unique tail light setup. Some pictures i took today (the red car in the backdrop is a Scorpio for reference)

Originally Posted by Sankar

Performance maybe slightly lower than the current 39kWh model due to the extra weight of 64kWh pack, but shouldn't worry a lot of people.

The extra weight is around 150kgs, though not much, i believe the 39kWh model itself is not too high on performance. In addition, it might not be a simple swap, they'll need to change the suspension, brakes, gear ratio and some other components as well.

For the Bangalore folks: Advaith Hyundai @ ORR Bellandur has the test drive vehicle available in case someone wants to check it out. I saw one coming out of their premises today.

[Sankar]

Kona Electric's Kerala pricing is nothing much to be excited about, i called the dealer yesterday and OTR is 31L. The tax sop the state is providing is meagre and doesn't make sense. State's EV policy looks good (on print) but doesn't do anything to encourage private EV ownership.

[S.MJet]

Another big announcement on electric cars by Hyundai

To invest Rs 2,000 crore to drive in a Rs 10-lakh electric car. Vehicle will be manufactured at its Chennai factory.

“We are carrying out studies to determine a totally new and different product and this will be India dedicated platform. All body styles are being evaluated" Kim told TOI adding "all body styles are being evaluated at present".

Source:TOI

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by S.MJet

Another big announcement on electric cars by Hyundai

To invest Rs 2,000 crore to drive in a Rs 10-lakh electric car. Vehicle will be manufactured at its Chennai factory.

Yes, the car has excited me.

However, the support infrastructure will have to be looked at. Insurance costs, registration, maintenance will all have to be considered. Also BS-x will have to be given a go by. I do not think even the 'green' plates have yet been enacted. Why not allow it to be registered today without the BS-x hullabaloo. Also, what about adding a 'noisemaker' to the car. This has been talked of.

[Dhruv29]

I was looking for replacement for my ‘05 Sonata Embera, so i decided to check out Kona.
I had registered for a TD for Kona on online portal of Hyundai, and within an hour i received a call informing me about the confirmation of request and the dealership which will provide the TD.
After about half an hour, I received a call from Himgiri Hyundai, Sector-43 Gurgaon regarding my query. I asked them to arrange for a test drive. They confirmed that test drive is available and i could come anytime for it. So, i confirmed the test drive slot.
Before reaching the dealership i again called them to confirm the test drive and again they said that the car is available.
They had a car parked inside the showroom and overall i was not impressed with the cost cutting like hard plastics on dashboard and door panels, small bits like lack of gas struts to open the hood, lack of rear seating space and backrest angle of the seat.
I was greeted by a sales person who probably chewed “Pan Masala”, had a terrible bad breath which put me off entirely and gave a terrible explanation of the features.
Cunningly, he got my details and signature on test drive feedback form before the actual “drive”.
I waited for 25 min for the test drive and later on was informed that the car is not available as some minister wanted to drive the car and it’s not available at this moment. I said i had confirmed twice about the availability and you said that it’s available. He gave a weird smile and said this is his mistake and asked me to come back later in an hour for it.
Guess what? You lost a customer.
I was really annoyed by this experience. On one side you are selling a premium car which will probably sell in single digit and you can’t even give a little premium experience to the customer visiting the showroom? It’s not like Creta or i20 that the next guy walking in the showroom will probably buy the car.

[aniketi]

This is good car no doubt on that. But this is exclusive car and it cannot be sold in numbers due to high cost. At this price, 99% customers will run away immediately. Hyundai should have came up with car which is around 10-12 Lacs so that it would have attracted more customers and created lots of noise in the Indian Automobile arena. Lots of people would have attracted to the car and they would have gained first mover advantage considering future for the electric cars in India. More cars come on road, more knowledge they would have gained from real time customers which would be very helpful in future development.

[sgiitk]

Once the 5% GST comes in expect a drop of about 1.5L in the price. Also, let us see what is the registration/road tax. Insurers will also have to recalibrate. I expect a downwards revision here also.

[deepjaju]

Originally Posted by aniketi

This is good car no doubt on that. But this is exclusive car and it cannot be sold in numbers due to high cost. At this price, 99% customers will run away immediately. Hyundai should have came up with car which is around 10-12 Lacs so that it would have attracted more customers and created lots of noise in the Indian Automobile arena. Lots of people would have attracted to the car and they would have gained first mover advantage considering future for the electric cars in India. More cars come on road, more knowledge they would have gained from real time customers which would be very helpful in future development.

Its easier said than done. If you have thought of this idea be pretty sure Hyundai has too.
The problem is time. Electric cars are the future and definitely will be more affordable, but not now. The EV policy is just being encouraged by the government which will reduce the GST from 12% to 5%. Once this budget is approved prices will drop a bit and the state governments will also follow suit.
Lithium-ion batteries are very expensive right now. More R&D will lead to more productivity and hence lesser costs, but this again will take time. New battery technologies are being developed but are not mass-production ready. Already car manufacturers & Oil companies are heavily invested with the current Internal Combustion Engine offerings. So it will take time & competition to release money towards R&D.
So yes it is obvious, Hyundai would have got a winner if they get a sub 15L full electric car but it is just not possible at this point of time. Even the EV market leader Tesla cars start from US$35k = Rs. 26L (keep in mind the US government hardly taxes electric cars compared to India and their EV infrastructure is also pretty developed). But I do applaud Hyundai for bringing in the Kona at this price point. This truly shows their seriousness and that their electric car offering ain't a gimmick.

[Lobogris]

Unfortunately Hyundai has removed all advanced features present in its international variants. There is no adaptive cruise control, no front collision avoidance /assist, no pedestrian detection, no lane keep assist and no rear cross traffic detection. All these are present in EU versions. In addition, the head unit has a small 7 inch display. There is no memory for seats or mirrors.

Otherwise it is a lovely vehicle. I would love to buy it as my next vehicle but not until all those international features are made available here to us. We are paying the same or even a bit more than EU prices. So why should we get lesser features? Some may claim laws prohibiting some of these features in India but if Volvo can provide them, so can Hyundai. In a CKD, there is no excuse for dropping these features.

[TusharK]

According to Hyundai, 120 Kona Electric SUVs have been booked in just 10 days since launch.

The Kona Electric is Hyundai's first all-electric vehicle for the Indian market. It is priced at Rs. 25.30 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).



The Kona Electric uses a 39.2 kWh battery that powers an electric motor that has an output of 134 BHP and 395 Nm. The car comes with four driving modes - Eco, Eco+, Comfort and Sport. The driver can adjust the regenerative braking using paddles provided behind the steering wheel.

According to Hyundai, the Kona Electric can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 9.7 seconds. The battery pack is said to offer an ARAI certified range of 452 km on a single charge. It can be recharged to 100% in 6 hours and 10 minutes using an AC charger. It takes 57 minutes to recharge the battery to 80% of its capacity using a DC fast charger.

Link to Team-BHP News