2024 Hyundai Kona Electric Premium Extended Range review - Long-term owner

Multimedia and safety technology: 9/10

One big selling point for us was the presence of physical buttons for major functions such as temperature control, radio, other media, and the maps. Many other settings can be controlled via the 12.3-inch touchscreen, which is seamlessly integrated with a second 12.3-inch instrument cluster in front of the driver. 

There are plenty of USB-C charging points present in the front and back. One of the USB connectors in the front can be changed by pressing a switch, from a charging function to a USB media connector to allow playing music or video via USB. There are none of the older USB connection points, so we had to buy an adapter to use our older USB sticks.

When we bought the Kona it had wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but by the time we got it home an over-the-air (OTA) update (yes, the Kona also has OTA update capability) had changed these to wireless. CarPlay. Works quickly but we have not had the opportunity to test Android Auto. 

The Kona EV comes with Hyundai's 'Bluelink' connectivity via an app. This can remotely control things like charging, climate control, locking, battery conditioning, and heating or cooling the seats. It works well and is easy to use.
 
Safety features are many in the Kona EV. These include smart cruise control, lane-keeping warning and assist, passing car alert when opening doors, forward and reverse automatic braking when detecting a collision, a 12-inch head up display, and dual projector LED headlights. Reading some reviews about recent Hyundai vehicles in general, many people get annoyed with the continual beeps they get from the safety systems such as speed limit detection or lane changing. Yes, it can get annoying at times and even if you turn the sounds off, they return when the car is turned back on. A solution we found was to create a shortcut to turn the sounds off via the steering wheel shortcut button. Two button presses when you start the car and they are gone! Another, of course, is to turn the radio up – then you don’t hear them!

One feature found on the premium model is a blind-spot camera that shows up when you indicate. This appears in the instrument cluster. Other cameras on the car provide a 360-degree 3D image which turns on when parking or in reverse, and can also be manually activated at any time. 

Practicality: 10/10

The first thing that impresses about the Kona is the interior layout. It is just a peasant place to be. 

The seats are very comfortable and have full electric adjustment for both driver and passenger up front. The rear seats are equally comfortable and have a two-position reclining function, albeit manually operated. Both front and outboard rear seats are heated, and the front are also ventilated. The steering wheel is also heated. All can be pre set via Hyundai’s Bluelink app. 

There are some hard plastics in the cabin, but you wouldn’t really know it. All the soft touch stuff is where it really counts, where you rest your arms while driving. The steering wheel has a nice feel, too.

Storage-wise, there is plenty of space in the Kona. Unlike the first model, which was very limited in the luggage area, this has plenty of boot space for several suitcases or whatever else you want to put back there. Indeed, one of our criteria for selecting the Kona was that it could fit our sporting equipment without folding the car seats down. When you want more storage the rear seats are split 40/60. The boot floor has two levels, and one big surprise is that under it all there is a space-saver spare tyre. None of this tyre-repair stuff! Under the bonnet is a storage trunk (frunk) big enough to hold our spare cables and other small things.

Speaking of the bonnet, it is supported with hydraulic struts. The boot is electronic, which I suppose is a good thing and it does work well. Even has an automatic hands-free function. I am a bit old fashioned, though, and still prefer to open the boot myself!

The Kona EV also has V2L functionality. This is via a power point in the back seat area. I have only tested it briefly so far and it ran a vacuum cleaner and some power tools without a problem. Still to try making coffee! It also has external V2L capability via the charge port and we have an adapter on order (this is an extra of about $500), so it will be interesting to see how this works.

Driving: 9/10

The driving experience is where the Kona stands out among other EVs we took for test drives. The power rating of the 2024 Kona EV is the same as the outgoing model at 150kW, but the torque has been significantly reduced from close to 400Nm to 255Nm. Despite this, it is still comparable to most other EVs and has enough oomph to quickly get off the mark and overtake with ease. Having owned a 2021 Kia Niro with similar outputs to the previous Kona, the lowering in torque is barely noticeable and does make for a more pleasant drive. 

The ride is very smooth and reminds us of a late model Citroen C4 we recently owned. Cornering feels safe; it is firmly planted and it irons out bumps very well. In fact, we had a 2023 Hybrid Kona as a courtesy car during our first service and this felt very firm and rough in comparison. So too did several other makes of EV we took for test drives. 

Another plus for the driving experience is how the Kona deals with some of the safety systems in place. Although it has lane keeping with steering assist, this is definitely not as aggressive as some others we have experienced. Haptic feedback, rather than an audible alarm can be set to warn when straying off line and this is gentle rather than violent. Steering assist is generally accurate and works with or without cruise control. In our experience so far, the Kona has not exhibited any ‘phantom braking’, something that has happened in several other EVs we have driven.

Running costs: 9/10

The efficiency of the Kona Premium is not too bad, as it certainly suits our needs. We live outside of Launceston in Tassie, so it is a bit hilly, and a large proportion of our driving is at highway speeds of 100 – 110km/h. All our driving is with the climate control on. After about 3000km, the overall efficiency rating is at around 17kWh/100km, so that gives a realistic range of about 370-380km with our sort of driving. The official rating for the car is about 444km and this, and possibly more, would easily be achievable around town. We often see a usage of 13-14kWh/100km with town use. These are similar amounts to what we were seeing on our previous Kia Niro, and we had driven it from Tassie to Adelaide several times without any range anxiety. 

One thing that is disappointing is that the Premium model comes with 19-inch wheels and cannot be optioned with the 17-inch wheels of the standard model Kona EV. With 17-inch wheels the official range is over 500km. Not sure why Hyundai don’t offer this as an option because we certainly would have taken it. The 19-inch wheels do look good, though.

Cost-wise, our charging is largely done at home, either using solar or off peak rates. If the battery were completely empty, it would only cost around $10 to ‘fill’. We usually top up once or twice a week at home using the slow charger supplied with the car, which uses a domestic 10amp powerpoint. This is adequate for most of our driving and we only use public fast chargers on trips over 350km.

Obtaining insurance was no problem and is similar to a previous four-cylinder petrol car we owned and less than our previous EV which was a 2021 Kia Niro.

Servicing is every two years or 30,000km.

Reliability: 10/10

Reliability of the Kona EV Premium is difficulty to speak to as we have only driven it for 3000km.

All seems pretty good so far, though. There are no rattles or squeaks suddenly appearing, and you would certainly notice these as the cabin is very quiet at all speeds. All the panels fit well and everything works as it should. The multimedia screen is responsive and both Apple Maps and the maps on the vehicle work without any glitches. 

As well as being able to operate the usual voice commands in Apple or Android, the Kona has its own voice control for systems such as heating, sunroof, radio, or maps, and this works well once you know what commands to use!