Source: Hyundai
The Hyundai Kona and Kona Electric have been awarded Best Subcompact SUV award by Car and Driver magazine in its 10 Best Trucks and SUVs awards at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week.
It’s the first time a Hyundai crossover has won the prestigious award, which recognises both Hyundai’s progress in the crossover class, as well as the inevitable shift to clean transport technology.
“At $37,495 and with 258 miles of range, the Kona Electric quietly steps ahead of the Chevy Bolt and the mythical $35,000 Tesla Model 3 in the race to insert EVs into the mainstream,” writes Car and Driver.
The Driven notes that the prices above are in US dollars – in Australia, pricing for the Kona Electric has not yet been officially confirmed but is expected to be around $A53,000-55,000 before on road costs.
Australians will be offered the longer range 64kWh version, which is expected to have a real world range of around 400km.
Mike O’Brien, VP of product, corporate and digital planning for Hyundai Motor America, said the car maker was “thrilled” that its Kona Electric models had been deemed worthy of Car and Driver’s highest recommendation.
“Kona is an affordable, stylish and functional compact CUV, tailored to the needs of customers who pursue active lifestyles of all kinds,” he said.
“Even more, Car and Driver is both highly discerning and selective, so their recognition of Kona as a 10Best winner is certainly a strong indicator of Kona product line excellence.”
The Hyundai Kona electric has in recent times been recognised by several other awards in Europe, the UK and the US.
In December 2018 it received the “Next Green Car Awards” in the UK, “Best Car of the Year” award in Spain, one of ten coveted spots in the 2019 WardAuto Best Engine competition.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.
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