Should You Buy Hyundai's Kona Electric In India

Tata Motors’ Tigor and Mahindra and Mahindra’s e-Verito are two of the successful electric cars running in India. They are also being used largely by the Indian government. EESL had ordered for 10,000 EVs from these companies in September 2017. Tata Motors and M&M have delivered 500 Tigors and 1000 e-Veritos, respectively. However, the government has now chosen to order Hyundai’s long-range SUV Kona electric which was launched in July 2019. The reason for the change was the dissatisfactory performance of the earlier EVs, which failed to cross 80-82 km on a single charge within cities.

Hyundai, one of the leading car companies in India, has gone electric with the launch of a premium electric vehicle, Kona.  The crossover priced at Rs 25.30 lakh will be sold in 11 cities only. It looks like a large hatchback, with a neat design and compact dimensions. The car comes with a 39.2kWh battery in India and the car can run up to 452km on a single charge. However, practically speaking the range comes at around 300 km on a single charge, which is still remarkable for an electric SUV. Kona comes with a 7.2kW wall-box charger and a 2.8 kW portable charger. The wall box charger can be easily set up at the user’s residence or office. It takes about 6 hours to charge the Kona fully. There is another option to fast charge (up to 80%) the car in just 57 minutes, with a DC fast-charging option. There is a 3-year standard warranty on the Kona, with no restriction on the kilometers. Though the dynamics of the car sounds interesting and attractive, the company could only sell 130 cars in a month of its launch. Well, India is a price-sensitive market and Kona’s high price could be a major constraint to it becoming a success in the country.

Also, read about Reva Electric Car India

In sharp contrast, Tata’s Tigor comes in two models priced between Rs. 9.99- Rs. 10.09 lakh, while M&M’s e-Verioto comes in a price range of Rs. 13.17 – Rs. 13.53 lakh. Tigor claims to run up to 142 km and e-Verito can go up to 140 kM on a single charge.