New Hyundai Kona Electric gets two battery pack options, promises up to 490 km

Hyundai already previewed the bold design of the new Kona Electric in December last year, and now the Korean auto giant has revealed the details of its powertrain after disclosing the specification details of the petrol and hybrid variants of the new Kona in January 2023. The pure electric version of the subcompact crossover claims to come with two different battery pack options: Standard and Long Range.

The new second-generation Hyundai Kona Electric's standard model will come with a 48.4 kWh lithium battery pack, enabling the EV to run 342 km on a single charge. Also, a Long Range variant of the Kona Electric will come equipped with a 65.4 kWh battery pack, enabling it to run 490 km on a single charge.

Hyundai also stated that the Standard and Long Range variants would come with a front axle-mounted electric motor. The electric motor can churn out 154 hp of peak power on the Standard variant, while the Long Range variant will pump out 214 hp of peak power. Both the Kona Electric variants will generate 255 Nm of peak torque, claims Hyundai.

Hyundai further claims that the bigger battery can be charged 10-80 per cent in about 41 minutes with the fast charger. However, the automaker has not revealed the maximum charging rate for the new Kona Electric crossover. The car brand has further stated that the second-generation Hyundai Kona Electric has battery preconditioning that ensures secure charging and range performance in cold weather conditions. Also, it has a heated charging door that operates at temperatures as low as 30 degrees Celsius.

The South Korean auto giant claims that the new Kona Electric gets a new i-Pedal driving mode that allows for a single pedal driving. Other technologies onboard the new generation EV include an intelligent regenerative system, which automatically adjusts the amount of regenerating braking based on the information from the forward traffic flow. Apart from that, it also offers Vehicl-to-Load (V2L) technology, which supports internal and external charging of electrical devices and home appliances using the EV's stored energy.

Hyundai claims the new generation Kona Electric is one of the largest cars in the subcompact segment. The new Kona Electric measures 150 mm longer than its predecessor at 4,355 mm. Also, it is 25 mm wider at 1,855 mm and has a 60 mm longer wheelbase at 2,660 mm, compared to the outgoing model. The new Kona EV is marginally taller than its predecessor at 1,575 mm.

Hyundai claims the dimensional changes of the new model have resulted in a larger, wider and more spacious cabin that will benefit the occupants. Also, the EV comes with technology-aided features like a floating horizontal C-Pad integrated into dual 12.3-inch panoramic display screens and a 12-inch head-up display (HUD). The car gets all its driver controls relocated around the steering wheel. Other features include a Surround View Monitor that displays the video footage of the vehicle's surroundings, a Bose premium sound system, and Over-the-Air (OTA) software update functionality.