2022 Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander Extended Range overview

The Hyundai Kona has one of the numerous ranges of any crossover available on the market.

The vary spans from sub-$30,000 naturally-aspirated four-cylinder fashions via turbocharged all-wheel drive variants, the new turbo N, and Standard and Extended Range all-electric fashions. In different markets, there are even diesel and hybrid choices.

In Australia, that is the priciest Kona you should purchase: the 2022 Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander Extended Range. You’ll must take a deep breath after saying that title aloud, and you might gulp once you see the value.

Nevertheless, the Kona Electric is now the entry level to Hyundai’s electrical car vary now that the Ioniq hatch has been discontinued regionally, and on this trim stage that is the nicest Hyundai EV you should purchase earlier than you step as much as the Ioniq 5 and upcoming Ioniq 6.

How a lot does the Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander Extended Range price?

The Highlander Extended Range is priced from $64,000 earlier than on-road prices, or greater than twice the value of a base, petrol-powered mannequin.

All colors bar Atlas White and our tester’s placing Dive in Jeju prices an additional $595; an non-obligatory black/gray inside provides $295. Based on a Sydney put up code, our tester rung up at $67,224 drive-away.

That makes it nonetheless eligible for EV incentives in some states, together with New South Wales.

Those searching for a Kona Electric can both sacrifice some vary by stepping all the way down to a Standard Range mannequin, or sacrifice some equipment by stepping all the way down to the Elite. If you do each, the value tag falls to $54,500 earlier than on-roads.

MORE: What electrical automotive purchaser incentives are provided throughout Australia?

In top-spec guise, the Kona Electric is getting up there in worth. The base, rear-wheel drive Ioniq 5 Dynamic is $69,990 earlier than on-roads, whereas a front-wheel drive Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric is $72,990 earlier than on-roads and provides each more room and extra badge cachet.

Then there’s the market-leading Tesla Model 3, which in base rear-wheel drive guise prices $65,500 earlier than on-roads. A Polestar 2 Standard Range Single Motor is cheaper nonetheless at $63,900 earlier than on-roads.

The Kona Electric, even in Highlander Extended Range guise, manages to undercut even the most cost effective Kia Niro EV, nonetheless. Its company cousin prices $65,300 earlier than on-roads in base S guise, or $70,780 drive-away.

It additionally stacks up properly in opposition to the lower-range Mazda MX-30 E35 Astina ($65,490) and fewer luxurious Nissan Leaf e+ ($61,490).

With a flood of extra inexpensive Chinese electrical autos due right here over the subsequent 12 months, together with an up to date MG ZS EV, the brand new BYD Atto 3, MG 4 and GWM Ora Cat, it’s doable their success might come on the expense of the present Japanese and Korean fashions at this finish of the market.

The ZS EV begins at $46,990 drive-away, whereas relying in your State the BYD Atto 3 begins at $44,990 drive-away.

What is the Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander Extended Range like on the within?

There have been some significant modifications made to the Kona’s inside in its transition to an EV, however this nonetheless feels just like the cabin of a $30,000 automotive – not one costing over $60,000.

The atmosphere has been improved with a (non-obligatory) black/pale gray inside colourway, changing the petrol Kona’s black-on-black cabin.

But all of the supplies are the identical, which features a exhausting plastic sprint high and, extra annoyingly, exhausting plastic door tops, with solely minimal soft-touch surfaces.

The Kona Electric’s distinctive centre console is a combined bag. On one hand, it offers the Kona a extra futuristic look, and frees up space for storing beneath for a helpful storage space, which additionally features a USB-A port and a 12V outlet.

There’s additionally a helpful lined compartment forward of the shifter buttons, below which sits a wi-fi telephone charger and a USB-A port.

Alas, we’re no fan of the push-button shifter in fashions just like the Tucson and Santa Fe, and it’s no extra welcome within the Kona Electric. It’s not as tactile as a traditional shifter and even rotary dial.

The transition from petrol to electrical energy has additionally robbed the Kona of inside room, and the petrol mannequin was already no bastion of packaging excellence.

The increased flooring, to accommodate the battery beneath, cuts into toe room and, whereas there’s sufficient room for somebody measuring 180cm tall to take a seat behind a equally tall front-seat occupant, rear-seat area is ample not considerable.

There are nonetheless no rear air vents again right here, and solely a lone USB-A charging outlet. Child seats may be put in utilizing one of many three top-tether or two ISOFIX anchor factors, whereas there’s a fold-down centre armrest.

The Kona Electric has 332L of boot area with the rear seats up and 1114L with them folded (VDA). That’s solely barely lower than a petroleum Kona (374L/1156L), although there’s solely a tyre restore equipment in lieu of a space-saver spare.

There are another Kona gripes that carry over to the EV, together with a reversing digicam that’s fairly washed out at evening and a head-up show that noisily whirs into place.

More welcome are the slick 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment and digital instrument cluster screens that carry over.

The infotainment system specifically boasts fast response occasions and enticing graphics, whereas there’s a devoted EV menu that shows the closest chargers and lets you toggle settings just like the restrict for each AC and DC charging.

Helpfully, there’s a row of exhausting shortcut buttons beneath the touchscreen. While there’s no dwelling button, you’ll be able to program the star button accordingly.

The digital instrument cluster options totally different graphics relying in your drive mode, although it isn’t as adjustable because the digital clusters present in some autos – for instance, there’s no map view such as you’ll discover in lots of Volkswagen Group merchandise.

What’s below the bonnet?

Kona Electric Extended Range fashions use a single, front-mounted electrical motor with 150kW of energy and 395Nm of torque. It’s mated to a 64kWh lithium-ion battery.

Hyundai claims a spread of 484km on the stricter WLTP take a look at cycle, which is healthier than an ZS EV (320km), Niro EV (460km) or Atto 3 Extended Range (420km), if ever so barely worse than a Model 3 RWD (491km).

If you’re wanting to avoid wasting cash, the Standard Range – launched final yr – has a 100kW/395Nm electrical motor, a smaller 39.2kWh battery pack, and 305km of WLTP vary.

After every week or 333km of driving, together with a mixture of inner-city, suburban, rural and freeway driving, our common power consumption was 14kWh/100km. That’s near Hyundai’s declare of 14.7kWh/100km.

During a rural driving loop at largely freeway speeds, we noticed power consumption of 16.1kWh/100km.

Both AC and DC charging are supported, with the previous providing cost capability of seven.2kW for a claimed cost time (10-100 per cent) of 9 hours quarter-hour, and the latter providing as much as 100kW cost capability for a cost time (10-80 per cent) of 47 minutes.

Using 50kW DC quick charging is barely slower, with 10-80 per cent cost replenished in roughly 64 minutes.

How does the Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander Extended Range drive?

The Kona Electric is competent on the highway, although it doesn’t really feel fairly as nimble as its compact dimensions would counsel.

The cabin is mostly quiet, till you rise up to freeway speeds. It’s then that the inside will get quite boomy, with tyre noise permeating the cabin.

Ride high quality is kind of good total, absorbing impacts with no trace of crashiness; the Kona Electric advantages from a multi-link rear suspension, not like the usual torsion-beam of the two.0-litre petrol model.

Like the Ioniq 5, which rides on a devoted EV structure, the Kona Electric will take a second or two to decide on some bigger highway undulations you might discover on rural roads.

The steering has some heft to it and does talk a few of what’s happening beneath, although it feels a contact leaden at occasions.

There’s fairly a bottom-heavy feeling to the Kona Electric – comprehensible, on condition that’s the place the battery pack is. As a consequence of this weight, the Kona Electric isn’t significantly enjoyable to drive – that is no Kona N, and it may possibly really feel ponderous in corners and proof against sudden modifications in path.

At 1743kg, it weighs 150kg greater than the corresponding Standard Range mannequin on account of the bigger battery. That makes it solely round 7kg lighter than a Toyota RAV4 Cruiser AWD Hybrid.

The electrical powertrain offers greater than sufficient thrust, nonetheless – in some cases, maybe an excessive amount of. You’ll must reasonable your throttle purposes as too heavy a prod of the accelerator pedal yields loads of torque steer, wheelspin and normal front-end squirm.

Driven sedately, the Kona Electric is completely nice.

You can use the paddle shifters to toggle between three ranges of brake recuperation, although the automotive will default to the mid-strength Normal mode on start-up.

The highest setting is nice at slowing the automotive down, however it doesn’t convey it to a whole halt. Hyundai does, nonetheless, tout a one-pedal driving function which works if the Smart Recuperation System is activated, and lets you cease the car by persevering with to tug the paddle shifter.

You can toggle between Normal, Sport or Eco drive modes, plus an Eco+ mode we suspect is for once you’re panicking you gained’t attain a charger in time because it turns the air-conditioning off completely. Eco dulls the throttle considerably, however not considerably.

While the automotive will bear in mind you had it within the Eco drive mode once you restart it, it gained’t recall for those who had Auto Hold activated. I’ve the identical gripe about my Hyundai Genesis.

The customary LED headlights bathe the highway in crisp, vibrant gentle, and there are useful cornering lights.

Kona fashions are inclined to have the worst Lane Following Assist calibration of any Hyundai product, however within the Kona Electric we didn’t expertise a lot in the way in which of the awkward bobbing we’ve encountered in petrol fashions.

This lane-centring system is kind of intrusive however it works properly along side the adaptive cruise management to make freeway driving easy.

While we anticipate a lane-centring system to take cost in freeway driving, the common lane-keep help, which defaults to on, is surprisingly intrusive and makes its presence keenly felt in day-to-day driving.

What do you get?

The Highlander Extended Range could also be priced equally to a base Tesla Model 3 or Polestar 2, however Hyundai contains loads of customary equipment.

Highlights embody:

• Front parking sensors
• LED headlights and entrance indicators
• LED tail lights
• High-beam help
• Head-up show
• Power sunroof
• Heated/ventilated entrance seats
• Heated rear seats
• Heated steering wheel
• Power entrance seat adjustment
• Electrochromatic rear-view mirror
• Interior ambient lighting
• Two-tone roof (no cost-option, removes sunroof)

That’s along with options discovered within the Elite:

• 17-inch alloy wheels
• LED daytime-running lights
• 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster
• 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Satellite navigation
• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (wired)
• DAB+ radio
• Leather-appointed upholstery
• Passenger seat top adjustment
• Heated, power-folding exterior mirrors
• Qi wi-fi cost pad
• Harman Kardon 8-speaker audio
• Rear USB charging port
• Acoustic windscreen movie
• Keyless entry and begin
• Climate management with auto de-fog perform
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Rear parking sensors

Is the Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander Extended Range secure?

The Kona Electric carries over the combustion-engined mannequin’s five-star ANCAP security ranking achieved in 2017.

Using older take a look at standards, the EV managed a frontal offset audit rating of 14.97 out of 16.00 – barely higher than the petrol mannequin’s 14.07/16.00 – whereas the 16.00/16.00 rating for the facet impression take a look at and a pair of.00/2.00 for the pole take a look at had been carried over from the petrol model.

Whiplash safety was rated Good, pedestrian safety deemed Acceptable, and the general rating for all the Kona line-up is 35.07 out of 37.00.

Standard security options embody:

• AEB with Pedestrian and Cyclist detection
• Adaptive cruise management with cease/go
• Lane Following Assist
• Lane-keep help
• Blind-spot help
• Rear cross-traffic help
• Driver consideration warning
• Rear occupant alert
• Reversing digicam
• Safe exit warning
• 6 airbags

How a lot does the Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander Extended Range price to run?

The Kona Electric is roofed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee and requires servicing each 12 months or 15,000km – whichever comes first.

Hyundai provides capped-price servicing, with most companies costing between $180 and $190. There are some exceptions, nonetheless. The 48-month/60,000km service, for instance, will set you again $725, as will the 96-month/120,000km service.

Over the course of 5 years, it’ll price you $1445 to service a Kona Electric. That’s greater than you’ll spend in servicing a Tesla Model 3, and definitely greater than the Polestar 2 with its 5 years of free servicing.

Kias are sometimes costlier to service than Hyundais, however the Niro EV is cheaper to service over 5 years if you are going to buy a service plan. This rings up at $1187.

CarExpert’s Take on the Hyundai Kona Electric Highlander Extended Range

The Highlander Extended Range is a Kona Electric with about each function you could possibly need, however its pricing places it in an ungainly place.

It’s significantly costlier than extra spacious Chinese EVs just like the MG ZS EV and BYD Atto 3, and is priced up in opposition to entry-level mid-sized fashions just like the Tesla Model 3 and Polestar 2 that really feel extra befitting of this type of price ticket.

There’s additionally the temptation to spend a couple of thousand additional and get an Ioniq 5, for those who can handle to safe one of many few coming into the nation, because the bigger Hyundai options a way more intelligent and spacious cabin.

While the Kona Electric is snug to drive and options know-how that’s straightforward to make use of, the drawbacks of the usual Kona stay and are exacerbated by this increased price ticket – subpar packaging in addition to so-so materials high quality and presentation.

It additionally doesn’t really feel fairly as nimble to drive as its dimensions would counsel, with the Extended Range’s massive, heavy battery weighing the Kona Electric down.

If you’re new to the world of EVs, nonetheless, the Kona Electric’s familiarity and ease of use ought to attraction.

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MORE: Everything Hyundai Kona