310 Mi with a New 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric and Thoughts About the EVs

The Hyundai Kona Electric has a futuristic design. I don't know why the designers made the EV with a futuristic design. Is it possible to draw a car with a normal and still modern automotive design?! Fortunately, we already have the BMW iX3. However, I do know that this could be a hit over designers` art soul, so I just would like to say that I don't like the most of EV's design but now we all can see the purest art spirit drawing abstract and futuristic designs applied on cars. It could be good for art but not for a car. If it's an art and if somebody doesn't like it, somebody doesn't buy it. Now, almost all of the electric cars have some abstract designs but the people are blinded by electric technology and the design doesn’t matter. When I have a look at the design which makes me mad… Anyway… I have to get used to it or to find something like the iX3 which is not a point at the moment.

 

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)

I do understand that EVs are nowadays cars, but I do think that I'm not ready for them. Probably I'm like those people in the past who were scared of the self-propelled benches when the automobiles were just invented. Maybe I used to think that these cars will come around about my retirement ages but they're coming now. I'd expect that on my retirement age the cars are going to fly and we won't need driving license anymore but a pilot's one.

 

 

I'd drove the 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric. It was about 500 km (310 miles) two-way trip in a day. The trick here was whether we're going to manage it due to the limited battery range. The trip includes a highway and also most of the time the countryside curvy road because the highway was about 56 mi (90 km) or  112 mi (180 km) in total.

 

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric - instrument cluster. Take your time to get used to it.
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)

On the way, I was in the front passenger's seat. Everything new looks good but there are some details which could be made better. Like some plastic elements in the interior, especially the door handles which feel cheap. Probably that cheap feeling comes because the designers are tried to save weight to create a suitable range for the 65 kWh battery. If so I could put some exception for this feeling.

 

 

The front passenger seat position in the Kona is higher like an SUV even though that the Kona looks like a car at the front and as cross-over at back. The seats are a little bit slimmer probably because they should be lightweight. This means that they're not comfy for long trips. For long journeys like this one that we made it took about 2.5 hours per side and I get stiff.

 

I didn't have a seat on the rear seats so I won't comment.

 

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric fronts look good but the feeling after the trip wasn't so cool. 
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)

The whole journey was in ECO mode because we need to go and to get back within a day. This requires to safe as much as possible energy. It was obvious that we'll need to recharge the Kona EV but still, as much we can save as less time we'll need to recharge. Recharging takes time and compared it to standard refuel – the last one wins a point.

 

 

Our journey started with a 100% charged battery and after 193 mi (250 km) we left for about 42% and for sure we needed a quick charge. We used a public charging unit at the gas station and at that time we had some breakfast. 17 minutes later the battery was charged-up about 20% so we had a 60% battery to get home.

 

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric - Recharging.
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)

Well, in ECO mode the Hyundai Kona Electric responses almost like a kick-down of a 2014 Mercedes S500 (a test drive by Dro). As a passenger, I just started to feel it like that kick-down, full-throttle brand new model year of 2014 a Mercedes S500 and that feeling suddenly disappeared. Both vehicles are completely different but I appreciate that response.  Also during the trip, we get into a situation of overtaking, and the Kona Electric spin the wheels of speed about 34 mph (55 km/h) in ECO mode. That's risky! Losing traction on a dry road when overtaking it's not the best feeling even for the front passenger. You should be careful on wet and slippery road conditions. Here are two things we should pay attention to. First, a brand new Hyundai Kona Electric comes with low budget tiers that are not supposed to be on a car that offers a lot of torque. Second, name any other car that spins the wheels with a kick-down for overtaking starting from about 55 km/h (34 mph), especially a stock car with an internal combustion engine. Third, I have a question what does the ESP does, and shouldn't it works in these situations. I do remember that years ago even some cheap VW models have a limited-slip differential. So, the Hyundai Kona Electric has to improve its traction stability.

 

 

Coming home I was the driver. Adjusting the seat, the mirrors, the steering-wheel, fasten the seat belts - everything I need to drive comfortable. We took off. Driving an electric vehicle is almost the same as driving any other car with an automatic gearbox. The Hyundai Kona Electric doesn't have a gear selector but there are big buttons on the central console. If you are willing to drive forward push the D button if you are willing to drive backward push the R button and so on… For me, it was something new to use buttons for gear selector but it’s not a big deal. I do remember that this type of gear selection is used in old buses made by Mercedes about 30 years ago and if I have to think about something modern and affordable I have to say the Lincoln Corsair which is the new model of the MKC, some Ferraris, Mclarens, etc. However, using the buttons for gear selection was new to me at that moment.

 

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric - the gear selector. Using buttons for gear selection isn't something special and new but for me, it was a first-time experience.
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)

The difference between driving the Hyundai Kona Electric or any other automatic gearbox car is in the response of the car. The EVs are much more responsible because of the highest torque that's available from 0 rpm. Usually, you aren't feeling that 0 rpm acceleration, and mostly you need this good response for overtaking when approaching slow vehicles. Which isn't an acceleration from 0 rpm anyway.

 

 

Driving the Hyundai Kona Electric is almost like an automatic gearbox car but not at all because you don’t feel the speed. There isn't any noise, no gear shifting, pure acceleration. According to the law is a little bit difficult because you're overdoing the speed limit fast and you have to be careful. That's why driving with activated Active Cruise Control comes in handy and there are several reasons for that. First, it goes to the pre-set speed limit and second it slows down, keeping a pre-set distance if there is a vehicle in front of you. All you need to do is to handle the steering wheel. It's strange how the active cruise control steers but when your hands are on the steering wheel there is no problem because you could take the control at any time. Third, giving the acceleration management to the car makes it easy to maintain the acceleration and the regeneration function, something I think could be difficult, especially for me, to follow nicely and easily.

 

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric - the Head-Up Display is always handy on any vehicle. 
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)

Active Cruise Control has its bad side so you should pay attention. Depending on the pre-set destination that you want the system to follow, you should be prepared. It's always a good idea to pre-set the highest/longest distance that the car can follow with the vehicle in front of you but it slows you down earlier. It makes things a little bit difficult when you are about an overtaking. So, if you reaching a slow vehicle with an activated Active Cruise Control is good to take control of the car in your hands as earlier as possible. The negative point for the Hyundai Kona Electric here is that it works if you touch the brake pedal or deactivating it from a button on the steering wheel and not with the acceleration one. It could be deactivated by a button. So first, deactivating the Active Cruise Control and then you can do a nice and easy overtake. The Hyundai Kona Electric in ECO mode goes fast.  

 

 

Driving with activated Active Cruise Control is another benefit. It manages the acceleration and the braking which any way to the regeneration function. Driving the car for the first time I can’t be so precise to control the speed.  The regeneration function is one of the most important systems in the EV because it saves energy that is very useful for long trips and you have to be precisely doing it yourself. Usually, I'm driving a gasoline car with a range of at least 600 km with a full tank and it was difficult for me to follow the energy left in the batteries. So, the Active Cruise Control comes in handy.

 

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric offers 3 Levels of Coast Energy Regeneration.
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)

Increasing the speed decreases the energy in the batteries. It's almost the same as a conventional car but the problem here is the overall limited range; the long time for recharging and there’s no way for recharging when empty. You can have a generator in the trunk but this also requires a lot of time.

 

 

In Bulgaria outside the cities, the speed limit is 90 km/h (56 mph) if there is no other speed limit sign. So, I set the Active Cruise Control to 90 km/h (56 mph) and most of the time I drove in this way, excepting a few overtaking and lower speed limits. The interesting part started when we get on the highway. The speed limit is 140 km/h (87 mph) and I do know that I'm not able to drive with the speed limit due to the limited range. At that moment there was about 200 km (124 miles) left before recharging. I'm not used to driving with 120 km/h (75 mph) so I decided to set to 130 km/h (81 mph). Suddenly I notice that the range drops very fast in the middle of the highway and we were bellowing 100 km (62 miles) range and it's going faster. I decided to decrease the speed by 10 km/h (6 mph) to 120 km/h (75 mph). It's not too slow and it still saves some energy. Soon after that, we get into a speed limit of 90 km/h (56 mph) due to construction works for about 10 km (6 miles). This also saved energy. From my experience, I do know that it's not a good idea to drive far below the speed limit on a highway and after we had passed the construction limit I accelerated to 110 km/h (68 mph). Entering the city we had 60 km (37.3 mi) left before recharging.

 

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric - Ceramic Blue Color
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)

My usually driving trips in Bulgaria are from Varna to Sofia (capital) or vice-versa, which distance is about 450 km (280 mi). That's why this distance is crucial for me in the range of an electric vehicle. Our journey with the Hyundai Kona Electric was started in Varna to Veliko Tarnovo, which is a city in the middle of the road to Sofia. Going to Veliko Tarnovo and back to Varna makes almost the total range of Varna - Sofia. Here's a thing that we must consider the route characteristic from Varna to Sofia. We have about a 90 km (56 mi) highway starting from Varna and another app. 90 km (56 mi) highway to the entrance of Sofia. The rest part of the road is country driving and passing a lot of cities, towns, and lower speed limits. Another special characteristic of the route is the hugest ascent of the highway that leads to Sofia. On that part of the road, there is also a speed limit of 140 km/h (87 mph) but with that hill climb ascent, it’d be difficult. My experience shows that the highway speed plus hill climb isn't a good condition for an electric vehicle.

 

 

 

 

So, going Varna-Sofia with an EV could be tricky. Surely, you'll need anyway to make at least one rest stop for recharging but the question is how much energy will be left when entering the last app 90 km (56 mi) of the highway and how fast they're going to decrease due to the hill climb characteristic and the speed limit if you want to follow it. Otherwise, you can drive an EV like a truck that has an 80 km/h (50 mph) speed limit оr 70 km/h (44 mph) for vehicles towing a trailer/semi-trailer, and for sure can make it with a car like the Hyundai Kona Electric. Doing in this way the time you'll need from Varna to Sofia with an EV will be more than 6.5 hours because following the speed limits with an internal combustion engine and a single 15 min rest takes about 5.5 hours. Of course, if the trip allows you to take the plane and then to rent an EV in Sofia is always a good idea but time-to-time it’s not possible. What I need is at least 600 km (373 mi) range and fast charging up to 80% for about 15 min (which is half of the time available now) and of course more recharging stations. Another thing I need is an office or a house where I can recharge the car when I have to. Here in Bulgaria a lot of the people are living in apartment buildings with public parking spots and there aren't public recharging stations, for now. 

 

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric -  side view, in Galactic Grey or Sonic Silver Color.
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)

At the moment driving an EV makes you think about the range which is something we had forgot to do with the improvement of the internal combustion engines. Otherwise, if the EVs were affordable for many people now, we all will following the speed limit, even we are going to drive bellow the speed limit to not doing a long recharging stop. The Hyundai Kona EV offers fast recharging up to 80% for 30 minutes but here is tricky to find a recharging station, so you should be careful.

 

 

The Hyundai Kona EV has and very rough seam inside the steering wheel. If you are going to use the Kona EV around the city in day-to-day use or for a work car, you could have a blister on the hands. Otherwise, the Hyundai Kona EV is suitable for the city and around the city drivings and you should think about the place where you can recharge it if you're not living in a house.

 

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric - the Trunk offers plenty of room.
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)

The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric - at the back looks like a crossover but it feels more like a car, city car excepting the acceleration where there is no doubt about the power that the electric motor brings to the Kona Electric. 
(Image: Hyundai; U.S. Version Shown)