Hyundai Kona Electric (2018-2023) review - Practicality, comfort and boot space

The Kona Electric doesn’t deviate wildly from its internal combustion counterparts on the inside – designed from the ground up to house an electric drivetrain, the Kona still leaves ample room inside for its occupants. Elsewhere, a good driving position is easily found and visibility is good despite the Kona’s bold design and relatively small glasshouse.

It’s not the most practical small SUV around, but the Kona Electric doesn’t trail the best by too much in this price bracket. Its Kia e-Niro relative has now been replaced by the Niro EV, with both offering a touch more space and better packaging than the Kona.

Cabin storage is good, with decent-sized door bins, a centre armrest cubby and a prominent pair of cupholders in the centre console. It’s worth noting that the Hyundai Kona Electric is not rated for towing – you’ll have to explore the internal combustion Kona range for that.

Size

Based on the same platform as its Kia e-Niro cousin, the Kona Electric measures in the same in width and height – give or take a few millimetres. However, it’s length that the slightly smaller Kona lacks in comparison – it’s shorter overall by a couple of centimetres and so interior space suffers.

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Leg room, head room & passenger space

Test drive the Kona Electric back to back with its Kia e-Niro counterpart and you’ll notice that the latter makes better use of its interior space. Up front, the Kona’s cabin feels a little cosier thanks to its prominent centre console where the Kia’s feature drive controller sits atop a useful open cubby.

In the rear, there’s less legroom and headroom for adults, but it’s still comfortable for two if they are of average height. Smaller children won’t be adversely affected and there are Isofix points on each of the outer seats.

Boot

There’s 332 litres of boot space in the rear with the seats up, which is competitive in this class if not particularly outstanding when compared against the wider pool of non-EV SUVs of this size.

Put the rear seats down and you’ll have 1,114 litres to play with, while the rear bench folds in a practical 60/40 split but does not fold completely flat.