2024 Hyundai Kona Electric First Drive: Already a Sure Value?
• Auto123 gets in a first drive of the 2024 Hyundai Kona Electric.
Victoria, BC – The pace of progress is such in the electric vehicle segments these days that the Kona EV – with us since way, way back in 2019 – is already a young veteran of the scene. It popped up to very warm reception one year after the gas-powered Kona debuted. And at that time, the electric version grew out of the ICE version. This time around it’s the reverse: the revised new 2024 Kona was conceived first as an EV. Which means, the carmaker says, the elimination of compromises in the adaptation of an ICE model to an EV.
Here's the other thing to understand about the Kona Electric, and particularly its place of honour in the brand’s Canadian lineup. Hyundai Canada currently sells almost as many Kona Electrics here as the automaker sells in the U.S. – this despite a population roughly 10 times smaller. And within Canada, the Kona model currently accounts for almost 20 percent of Hyundai’s sales.
2024 Hyundai Kona Electric – What’s new
The revision for the new model-year is substantial in certain areas, starting with size. This Kona is bigger, simply put. It gains 150 mm in length, 25 mm in width and height and 60 mm for the wheelbase. Most of the gains are devoted to the rear legroom (77 mm more) and the cargo area behind, which is up a very substantial 33 percent to 723 litres. Right away this addresses one common complaint with the first-generation Kona, which is that families were growing out of it too quickly. The differences in back and in back of the back are noticeable.
There are design updates to the model as well, and most crucially, some upgrades to the powertrain for 2024. In the first case, the addition of certain cuts to the body panels and more pixelated lighting bring the model closer in its signature to the Ioniq 5. There are a few touches to differentiate the EV from the ICE Kona, but most of that work is done in front, there being no need for a traditional front grille and more need for aerodynamic gains.
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