There have been many debates on whether India is ready for electric vehicles or not. The lack of charging stations, availability of electricity and most importantly the fact that retail sale of electricity is still not approved by the government are some of the hindrances. However the government is rather 'Gung Ho' about India moving to EVs is something which is drawing a lot of attention and cashing in on it is Hyundai. The company will shortly launch the Kona EV in India and despite the fact that it will be rather expensive in India, there is no looking back.
The Kona EV is a compact SUV driven purely on electricity. It looks very smart thanks to the new age Hyundai design philosophy and comes with LED projector light panels up front. The two-tier light assembly is very similar to the one seen on the recently launched Venue and this is going to be a standard trait in future Hyundai's as well. The front grille is replaced by a plastic panel which does replicate a proper mesh grille which was erstwhile compulsory to keep the radiator cool. Here though there is no radiator and hence the requirement is gone. Instead Hyundai has positioned the charging point here. In profile there is a generous amount of plastic cladding offered to give it a tough look. The wheels are specially designed to look good and also aid aerodynamics. At the back too the Kona EV look sporty thanks to the edgy design and sleek LED tail lights. Overall the Kona EV looks rather well proportioned and good for the city.
Inside the SUV comes with a standard layout of things. There is a large infotainment system which performs a multitude of functions and the interface is easy to use and touch action responsive. The bridge type centre console is also unique in design and gone is the standard gear lever and replacing it are a bunch of buttons to make the Kona go forward and back. The IP is also a digital unit and it displays a massive amount of data. The steering wheel is pretty neat too and behind it sits a couple of paddle shifters. What they do is to deploy regenerative braking technologies while downshifting and this in turn helps reduce speed. Hyundai also say that this feature can also bring the Kona EV to a complete halt apart from charging the batteries and it does work well. Up shifting reduces the intensity of regenerative braking helping the SUV become freer and drive quicker.
The big question then is how is it to drive. Well, first and foremost there is literally no noise within the cabin to announce a ready to go situation. However press the accelerator and the Kona EV takes off fast as all the torque is available right from zero. On the go, the Kona drives smooth and the only thing filling your ears will be a certain whine from the motors and tyre noise. It is actually eerie within the cabin. At cruise too the Kona EV is rather comfortable and even if you nudge the throttle, the thing starts gathering speed rather fast. So overtaking on the road is a piece of cake.
In case you get into a sporty frame of mind, this SUV is ready to play ball! The acceleration is faster in Sport mode and dig in that pedal and there is a fair bit of tyre squeal heard within the cabin as the traction control light starts flashing on the instrument panel. Now the big question of range. Hyundai claims a range of 500+ km and this is essentially what one would get on regular petrol compact SUV.
So in all honesty, one will need to recharge the batteries maybe once a week depending on usage. The best thing is that the batteries don't deplete fast if driven normally and the regenerative technologies do a good job to keep the batteries juiced up. Overall these new generation electric vehicles look ready for the road and we strongly believe that there will be no range anxiety to worry about.
Verdict
The Kona EV looks and feels like a regular vehicle apart from the strange grille and wheels. It drives rather well and will keep the enthusiast happy too. At the same time, one will not have the guilt within that he or she is causing a threat to Polar bears or ice sheets up in the Polar Regions.
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