Hyundai Kona Electric review - Range, charging and running costs

Much like other electric cars, the Hyundai Kona Electric benefits from low running costs when compared to conventional internal combustion cars. The Kona Electric’s lithium ion battery replaces the fuel tank but costs far less money to top up – around £8 worth of electricity via a mains supply for maximum range on the larger 64kWh battery, in fact.

A lack of a traditional internal combustion engine means there are fewer moving parts to go wrong, which in turn should keep maintenance costs low. Hyundai’s excellent five-year, unlimited mileage warranty will help here, as well as its fixed-price servicing deals.

All electric cars are exempt from road tax, while BiK rates for company car users are fantastically low too, sitting at 1% for 2021/22 and 2% thereafter.

Hyundai quotes a maximum range of 300 miles for the pricier, 64kWh-batteried Kona Electric. Hyundai claims that a full charge will take nine hours and 35 minutes via its on-board 7.2kW charger, or just 75 minutes to get to 80 per cent if you have access to a 50kW fast charger at a service station.

The smaller battery returns a claimed 189 miles of range and takes just over six hours to fully charge via the on-board charger; a top-up to 80% via a 50kW charger will take around 57 minutes.

The Kona Electric comes as standard with a Type 2 charge cable that’ll work with most public fast chargers. An emergency three-pin cable is also supplied, but a full charge will take around 19 or 31 hours for the 39kW and 64kW batteries respectively.

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Insurance groups

The SE Connect and Premium 39 kWh battery versions sit in group 20, while the more powerful 64kWh Premium and Ultimate variants are in group 24.

Depreciation

Residual values and electric cars are not always a happy combination, but the Kona Electric should fare better than most – especially if you opt for the more future-proof 64kW version with its longer range. We’d expect the Kona to lose around half of its original value over the course of three years and around 36,000 miles.