New Hyundai Kona revealed

On sale: Spring 2023 | Price from: £30,000 (est)

When you're onto a good thing it makes sense to run with the ball, and the new Hyundai Kona follows just that wisdom. It's been given a bold look inspired by the electric cars in the Korean brand’s line-up – cars that have certainly grabbed the world's attention.

Those cars include the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, whose eye-catching details wouldn't look out of place in a retro-futuristic sci-fi flick, and the new Kona follows suit with a distinctive visor-style front LED light bar and a matching pixelated partner at the back, while chunky wheel arch cladding lends it a tough look. 

The new Kona isn't only different to its predecessor on the surface, though; it now shares its underpinnings with the Kia Niro. This means that it’s now much larger than before, leaving the small SUV class behind and going up against such family SUVs as the Nissan Qashqai and Skoda Karoq.

As before, the new Kona will be offered with petrol, hybrid and fully electric power. For the petrol and hybrid models respectively, the 118bhp 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine and 139bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine (with 43bhp electric motor) from the outgoing model are expected to be carried over, but with minor increases in power. 

The fully electric Kona EV will get the same battery and motor set-up as the Niro EV, with a 64.8kWh (usable) battery that’s good for an official range of 285 miles. That’s competitive with the MG 4 Long Range, which can travel 281 miles officially. Powering the Kona EV will be a single electric motor that produces 201bhp and 188lb ft of torque, giving it a 0-62mph time of 7.8sec.

Charging speeds could be a little bit disappointing by modern electric car standards; unlike the Ioniq 5 (which can charge at speeds of up to 238kW with the 77kWh battery), the Kona EV will charge at only 72kW – the same as the Niro EV. That means a 10-80% charge will take around 43 minutes, whereas the Ioniq 5 takes around 17 minutes (if you can find a suitably powerful charging point).

Inside, the Kona gets dual-screens for both the infotainment screen and driver’s display – both 12.3in in size. Below the infotainment screen sits a bank of physical buttons for the climate controls, which should help to minimise distraction while driving (unlike the touch-sensitive set-up in the Ioniq 5). Being slightly larger than the outgoing model, the interior should be much more spacious – especially for rear passengers and luggage. 

Pricing is yet to be confirmed, but the Kona is expected to start from around £30,000. That’s slightly more than both the Karoq and Qashqai will cost you – those cars start from £26,545 and £28,645 respectively.

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