Hyundai Kona Electric Launched In Malaysia; Priced from RM149,888 to RM199,888

Hyundai Sime Darby Motors has officially debuted the the 2021 Hyundai Kona Electric which will be available in three variants: Lite, Plus and Max.

HSDM has also announced that for the Kona Electric will begin from RM149,888 for the e-Lite, while the e-Plus will go for RM169,888. The range-topping e-Max is priced at RM199,888, all on-the-road without insurance.

Specification-wise, the base and mid variant run on 39.2 kWh, featuring a 136 PS and 395 Nm motor, offering both SUVs an operating range of 305 km on a single charge (WLTP cycle). Performance figures include a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 9.9 seconds and a 155 km/h top speed.

As for the 64 kWh model, output from the same permanent magnet synchronous motor is upped to 204 PS, with torque remaining the same at 395 Nm. A larger battery gives the variant an operating range of 484 km (WLTP) on a single charge, and performance numbers are also up, to 7.9 seconds for the 0-100 km/h run and 167 km/h in terms of top speed.

Getting to the charging system, the Kona Electric features two charging ports, a Type 2 AC and a CCS2 DC. For the base e-Lite, it has a 7.2 kW onboard charger, and regular AC charging with via the single-phase 7.2 kW route. Approximately, 6.5 hours is needed to get the six module (90 cells) battery from 10% to 80% SOC.

The e-Plus 39.2 kWh and Max 64 kWh variants have a 11 kW onboard charger, and regular AC charging that takes 4.5 hours for the 39.2 kWh and around 7.5 hours for the 64 kWh, which has a 10 module (98 cells) battery.

There’s also DC fast charging equipped with a 50 kW charger, taking 60 minutes for the 39.2 kWh model and 90 minutes for the 64 kWh version. But with a 100 kW charger, time taken for both batteries is shorter at 47 minutes.

However, if you use the supplied in-cable control box (ICCB) plugged into a domestic three-pin socket, it takes 22 hours to charge the 39.2 kWh versions, and 31 hours for the 64 kWh.

All ranges come standard with LED headlamps, LED tail lights, LED daytime running lights, rear fog lamps, auto headlamps and wipers and Remote Start, with the same 17-inch alloys and 215/55 rubbers 

On the inside, all three variants share the same features; leather upholstery, single-zone automatic air-conditioning, steering wheel audio controls, three USB ports, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and an eight-inch central touchscreen display, with a six-speaker audio system and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support.

Nevertheless, the e-lite doesn’t have a head-up display and wireless charging, like the e-Plus 39.2 kWh and e-Max variants do. You will have to adjust the front manually if you are to go for the base variant. 

As for the mid and top variants, they come with 10-way driver and eight-way front passenger electrically-adjustable seats.

Safety-wise, all the Kona Electric models come equipped with six airbags and the usual raft of items, including ESC, ABS, VSM, traction control and hill-start assist. All three variants also come with the automaker’s SmartSense safety suite.

But, you won’t see the front radar, rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assist (RCCA) and blind spot collision avoidance assist (BCA) that can apply the brakes where necessary, in addition to providing warning in the e-lite because only e-Plus and e-Max are equipped with the aforementioned features.

The e-Plus and e-Max also come with safe exit warning (SEW), which function is to alert passengers to oncoming hazards as well as smart cruise control with stop and go, and the FCA (or AEB) on the duo adds on the capability to track cyclists

The e-Lite, on the other hand comes with lane keeping assist (LKA), lane following assist (LFA), leading vehicle departure alert (LVDA), high beam assist, rear occupant alert and driver attention warning, but its autonomous emergency braking (AEB), which is badged as forward collision assistance assist (FCA) on the car, is limited to only vehicles and pedestrians as it features only a camera but no radar.

There will be a total of nine exterior colours offered across the three variants which are Dive in Jeju, Dark Knight, Atlas White, Ignite Red, Cyber Gray Metallic, Pulse Red Pearl, Galactic Gray, Surfy Blue Metallic and Jungle Green

All colour variants will be two-tone coming with a black roof that further extends down along the A-pillar, B-pillar and C-pillars.

On the interior, customers will be able to choose from Oceanids Black or Light Shale Gray.

All the Kona Electric variants come with a standard two-year/50,000 km warranty, with a battery warranty of eight years or 160,000 km. However, buyers will be able to extend this via an optional add-on package – for RM10,000, you can upgrade the standard warranty to a five-year/100,000 km warranty, with free service maintenance for three-years/50,000 km. The EV battery warranty remains unchanged.

Additionally, buyers can also opt for a 7 kw AC charging station with external charging cable (Type 2), priced at RM6,000 or a 22 kw AC charging station with external charging cable (Type 2) at RM7,000, excluding installation.