Hyundai Kona electric SUV gets a MASSIVE Rs. 1.6 lakh price cut: Here’s why

Hyundai India has just given the recently launched Kona electric SUV a massive price cut of Rs. 1.58 lakhs. Launched at Rs. 25.3 lakhs, the Hyundai Kona Electric SUV is now available for Rs. 23.72 lakhs. Notably, electric vehicles do not have to pay registration charges and road tax, which means that the on-road price will nearly be similar to the ex-showroom price. In case of the Kona, the new ex-showroom price is Rs. 23.72 lakhs. Also, the Indian government had announced tax sops on car loans for electric vehicles in the Union Budget of 2019. What this means is, people buying the Kona Electric through a car loan would stand to save about Rs. 2.5 lakhs in income tax over a period of 5 years.

Meanwhile, the big price cut is thanks to the Indian government reducing GST on electric vehicles from 12 % to 5 %. The 7 % reduction in GST means that electric vehicles across the board have gotten cheaper thanks to automakers passing on the GST tax cut benefit to customers. The Kona is available across 15 Indian cities, and 17 Hyundai dealerships in these cities are selling the brand’s first electric car. The Kona has received a great response from buyers in India, with Hyundai receiving over 150 booking for the electric SUV till date. Over 10,000 people have registered interest to test drive the Kona Electric SUV, and test drives are likely to commence shortly.

Hyundai assembles the Kona Electric SUV at its Sriperumbudur factory, off Chennai, through the completely knocked down (CKD) kit route. The SUV is powered by an 135 Bhp electric motor who’s calling card is the sheer torque it offers right off idle: 395 Nm of it. This high torque number means that the Hyundai Kona has a very impressive acceleration number, managing to do the 0-100 Kph sprint in just 9.7 seconds. The SUV has an effective range per charge of around 400 kilometers, which makes it quite practical for everyday use on city streets. The Kona Electric SUV can even manage short intercity runs of around 150 kilometers each side without the owner of the vehicle having to worry about running out of charge. While a regular household AC socket can recharge the Kona’s battery stack in about 6-8 hours, using a fast charger can get the batteries up to 80 % in just an hour.