Hyundai revises down official driving range for Kona Electric

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motors is working to set the record straight on the official driving range for its Kona Electric, after an error was made in calculating the car’s European ratings.

The battery electric compact SUV has been very popular in Europe, such as in Norway where interest was so high that Hyundai had to close the order books before the first models even hit Scandinavian shores.

Currently, Hyundai’s European website lists both the 39.2kWh and 64kWh battery with both WLTP and NEDC driving range ratings – it is the latter (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) with which all new cars sold in Europe must be subjected to be approved for sale.

The website, which is yet to be corrected, states that the driving range for the 39.2kWh model is 312km, while the driving range for the 64kWh model is 482km.

But Hyundai has since confirmed that an error was made during the WLTP testing, due to the wrong methodology being used by the independent testing organisation.

A statement made by the company describes how it has become apparent that the all-electric driving range (AER) was overestimated.

“In testing the Kona Electric to establish its homologated electric vehicle driving range, the independent organisation overseeing the process accidentally provided an incorrect testing methodology and then approved the results it generated.

This led to the Kona Electric being tested for a disproportionate length of time on the WLTP ‘urban’ cycle – comprising lower overall vehicle speeds and a reduced energy requirement – resulting in an overestimation of the vehicle’s all-electric range.”

The corrected range for the shorter range model will now be stated as 289km, whereas the range for the longer range model will be listed as 449km.

The latter is the model that Hyundai has said will be sold Australia, and as such we have updated our Kona Electric listing in our EV Models section.

While the actual (real world) range can differ somewhat depending on conditions, it is typically lower than the WLTP range.

What Car, for instance, recently published a series of tests the Kona Electric 64kWh model topped its list for actual range, coming in at is 259 miles (416km).

Fellow EV maker, Kia, has also announced new driving range figures for its e-Niro, due to what appears to the same error by the independent testing organisation.