The just-revealed 2018 Hyundai Kona is set to spawn an all-electric version sometime next year, company executives have confirmed.
Speaking at the global reveal of the new small SUV, a panel of executives – which included vice chairman, Euisun Chung, Kona lead engineer, Chanbok Chung vice president of styling, SsangYup Lee and senior vice president at the Hyundai Motor Design Centre, Luc Donckerwolke – said the company is “targeting a mass-production of Kona EV from next year”.
Hyundai believes in order for the Kona EV to be successful, it needs to be capable of a driving range comparable to a conventional petrol vehicle.
With that in mind, the executive panel said the company is targeting a range of over 390 kilometres for a single charge.
That figure is 110km greater than the range claimed by the electric version of the Ioniq hatch, which combines an 88kW/295Nm electric motor with a 28kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
A hydrogen fuel-cell version (FCEV) is also set to make its debut sometime next year, making the Kona derivatives two of the 14 new ‘green’ cars Hyundai plans to release by the year 2020.
Australia
Speaking with CarAdvice, Hyundai Australia’s general manager for external affairs, said the local arm would be very keen to bring the Kona EV for our market, given the Ioniq EV should be in showrooms early next year.
“We would definitely look at the electric version of Kona,” he said. “A range of 390km is something no one else has at that end of the market.”
Thomas added that there has been strong interest from government fleets in the Ioniq EV (above), which could also be brought to Australia in conventional hybrid and/or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) flavours.
MORE: 2018 Hyundai Kona revealed
MORE: Electric vehicle news
MORE: Hyundai Kona news
MORE: Hyundai news, reviews, comparisons and video