Launch date of Hyundai Kona electric SUV revealed!

Fresh off the launch of the Venue sub-4 meter SUV, Hyundai Motors India Limited is now planning to launch the Kona EV next to next month. That’s right, the electric SUV will be launched in India on the 9th of July, 2019. This will make it the first EV by the brand to be launched in India. The Kona EV is expected to be priced in between the Rs. 20 to Rs. 25 lakh price range. Moreover, it will probably come with only the 39.2 kWh battery pack here, which internationally is the lowest capacity model.

Now a price range of Rs. 20-25 lakh makes the Kona quite an expensive car. However, there are a few reasons which contribute to it. the first is that Hyundai will bring only the top of the line trim variant of the electric SUV to India. Secondly, it will be brought in via the CKD route and then assembled at Hyundai’s  Sriperumbudur factory, located near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. All the electric technology it comes with is also quite expensive and therefore that price mark is somewhat justified. However, much will it appeal to the regular buyer at that price range is something that remains to be seen.

Being the top of the line variant, the Kona EV in India is expected to come with all the bells and whistles Hyundai could manage to stuff in it. Mind you, the Korean brand is quite good at stuffing its cars with features with the recently launched Venue being a good example of the same. Expect it to come loaded with large touchscreen infotainment with Bluelink connectivity features, leather upholstery, soft touch material all around, automatic climate control, LED projector headlamps and DRLs, electric sunroof, rain sensing wipers and a host of other features to somewhat justify its price tag.

Talking of the fire ..err… electric power on the Kona, it gets the 39.2 kWh battery pack in India. This pack produces around 135 Bhp of power and 335 Nm of peak torque along with delivering a range of around 300 km on a full charge. This enables the Kona to do the 0-100 km/h run in just 9.3 seconds. Hyundai will provide charging solutions to the buyers like fast-charging kits that can be installed at the owner’s home.

Hyundai has set an initial sales target close to 1000 units of the Kona EV in the Indian market for the first year. Moreover, the company will initially offer the electric SUV in select cities which will include the top-10 metros. As for the competition, there is none in sight currently. However, Nissan will most probably launch the Leaf EV in the coming time which will also be priced around the same price range. Moreover, the MG e-ZS EV will be launched before the end of this year and though it will have a starting price of under Rs. 10 lakh, the top end variant of the SUV could provide some competition to the Kona.