Hyundai Kona Electric SUV in India as early as 2018; Revealed at Frankfurt Motor Show

By the end of next year, Hyundai could launch an all-new electric SUV in India – the Kona. Currently, the automaker is evaluating this option for the Indian market. The Hyundai Kona Electric SUV has just been revealed at the ongoing Frankfurt Motor Show, in concept form.

Notably, Hyundai has dropped plans of launching hybrid cars in India, and will instead launch electric cars here. The Kona is expected to be the first all-electric vehicle from the South Korean automaker for the Indian market. A full-import route is likely, and a steep price tag.

The electric SUV could be more of a market tester, meant to evaluate response to electric vehicles, rather than a volumes puller. Currently, India has only three electric cars on sale – the Mahindra E20 2 door and 4 door version, and the Verito Electric.

Meanwhile, Hyundai is aiming at a very impressive range of 384 kilometers for the Kona Electric. This should be more than sufficient for intra-city use in India. Notably, the official launch of the Kona Electric will happen 6 months down the line, at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2018.

Other details including the battery capacity and electric motor power are not known at this point in time.  Notably, Hyundai already sells petrol and diesel versions of the Kona in markets abroad. The regular Kona was introduced in international markets earlier this year but the SUV was deemed too expensive for the Indian market, where Hyundai already has the Creta sitting under the Tucson and Santa Fe SUVs.

The electric version of the Kona makes sense for India given the government’s push towards making the country an all-electric car market by 2030. Hyundai India is also said to be working on all-electric variants of budget cars such as the Grand i10 and Elite i20. The launch timelines and investment details for these new cars are currently unknown.

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