The Hyundai Kona: Perfect for the City, Plan ahead for the Highway
Preface: I live in California which is the most EV ready state. I am a huge car guy that has owned sports cars, trucks, and SUVs from Japan, America, Europe, and Korea. I am not an EV "supporter" by any means but in the interest in saving money I decided to give an EV a shot as "EV is the future"... so they say. My overall honest opinion is that EVs are definitely not the future and are severely lacking. Unless you own another 1-2 cars it's not a good purchase, but yourself a nice hybrid instead.
The Hyundai Kona is an excellent city small SUV. It is spacious, quiet, comfortable, and well equipped. Interior wise I would say the stereo is lacking for a MY2024 vehicle. Also, the lack of a remote open tailgate is RIDICULOUS. It's a $40,000 mid-range SUV it should have a tailgate that is openable via remote. The regenerative braking is helpful for city driving and keeps the battery charging throughout my commute during the week. I drive about 30 miles per day on average and I can go a full week on a 100% charge if I don't go anywhere else on the side. The ride is mostly comfortable but for some odd reason the rear shocks seems to be insanely tough so sometimes it can get rough when going over large bumps. The seats are comfortable even for longer range trips and are well adjustable. I really enjoy the infotainment system! It's clean, clear, precise, smooth, and informative. It has everything you want and need but nothing in excess that clogs up the interface. The wireless Apple Carplay is awesome too! I have said this multiple times, but I truly believe that the Kona's infotainment system is one of the best produced to this day ESPECIALLY for the price. The rear leg room is good and can comfortably fit adults even in excess for 6 feet. I have friends that are 6 foot to 6'3 and they can sit in the rear of the Kona easily and comfortably. The Kona has a lot of outlets including USB C outlets which are nice to have. The climate control system is all physical buttons which is EXACTLY THE WAY IT SHOULD BE! The A/C doesn't really get that cold however. Overall I'd say the Kona is a pretty nice and comfortable ride with good tech and space.
On the freeway, the Hyundai Kona is largely the same. It is comfortable, quiet, spacious, and well equipped. However, there is one major flaw. The range. The freeway range is atrocious. For an EV rated for 270 miles I am lucky to get 200 miles maybe 210 at best. This is with me being conscious about my AC/Heater usage to make sure to conserve energy as well. The range is just not simply not enough and has left me in some extremely stressful situations even when planning ahead for longer trips. I now refuse to take my Kona outside of a 100 mile range because the stress, hassle, public charging cost, and lack of infrastructure make it a miserable experience.
Charging the Kona is fairly easy, but has some quirks. Hyundai includes a level 1 charger which is nice but realistically useless if you plan to use your Kona literally at all. You need to get yourself a level 2 home charger to realistically use your Kona like a normal vehicle. I level 2 charge mine at home and usually plug it in before going to bed and wake up to a full charge ready for the week. The Kona does not like to charge in direct sunlight as it cannot cool itself down enough. If it gets too hot it will just stop charging and the app/SUV will not notify you either so you may come back to a surprise. You do pretty much need to charge in a garage or covered area. The level 3 fast charging times are also inaccurate. Hyundai states you can charge your Kona from 10-80% in about 40 minutes. I have fast charged my Kona quiet a bit and let me tell you... it was never even close to 40 minutes. Realistically you're looking at 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on the speed of fast charger you have chosen. This becomes extremely frustrating and time consuming on road trips.
*DOES NOT APPLY DIRECTLY TO KONA*
Speaking of fast charging, the fast charging infrastructure is also EXTREMELY lacking. Basically if you do not own a Tesla, good luck. I live in California which boasts being the largest EV supporting state. Well for the largest EV supporting state the infrastructure flat out SUCKS. Chargers are always broken, not the right type, not putting out the speeds they advertise, or are all occupied. If you have to rely on public charging infrastructure get yourself a Tesla or just be ready for a headache every single time you go to fast charge. Another down side is that every charger produced by a different company requires a different app. You will have to download 5 different apps and make 5 more accounts just to get yourself by with charging. It's inconvenient, slow, and unreliable.
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