2020 Hyundai Kona Features Higher Driving Range

Hyundai Kona Electric was first launched in its mother country, South Korea. In the following year, the electric SUV made its way to other markets including India. This year, Hyundai Kona EV on sale in the European market will be introduced with a boost in the drive range, which will be increased from 452 kms to 484 kms per charge in the WLTP driving cycle. However, the boosted range will only be available on the top-spec variants which are equipped with 64 kWh battery pack along with 204 Bhp electric motor.

2020 European-spec Hyundai Kona will offer a higher range drivetrain 

It is not known how Hyundai Kona achieved the improvement in its driving range. Possibly, the South Korean carmaker has applied some measures to enhance efficiency like using lower rolling resistance tyres while the hardware of the powertrain system remains the same.

All Hyundai Kona units for the European market will be manufactured at Hyundai’s plant in Czech Republic. This factory features an annual production capacity of 30,000 units. Hyundai puts a strong focus on expanding its share in the booming electric segment in the European market. Besides the Kona, the automaker also offers two other electric vehicles, Ioniq and Nexo.

Also read - Top 5 Key Things About Hyundai Kona Electric

In the meanwhile, the India-spec Hyundai Kona EV is currently making use of a 39.2 kWh battery pack which is accompanied by a 136 Bhp electric motor. This setting can deliver a range of 452 km on a full charge. The new Hyundai Kona EV for India  is likely to skip the update and keep the same drivetrain configuration. Hyundai Kona EV can be charged through two chargers, AC-type and DC fast charger. The standard charging would take around 6 hours to be fully recharged while DC fast charger can speed up the charging to 57 minutes. It is claimed to sprint from idle to 100 kmph in 9.7 seconds.

The India version of the Hyundai Kona is unlikely to get boosted range 

In our market, with the Kona, Hyundai does not target at the mass car buyers but only a small group of affluent customers that have an interest in EVs cars. Manufactured in South Korea, the vehicle is delivered to India shore via the CKD route (complete knocked out). Right now, it comes at the lowest price of Rs 23.71 lakh, but it is expected to see a price hike soon after the government applies higher custom duties for CKD-imported EVs on April 1. In response to the new customs duties rise, the Hyundai has started to localize less essential car parts in order to keep the price in check.