Louth Motoring: The Hyundai Kona Hybrid - an eager beaver, people pleaser

The second-generation Hyundai Kona has arrived. Mirroring the outgoing model, it is available in petrol, hybrid and just very recently arrived an all-electric version promising a range of 377 kms.

The desertion of diesel continues with no place for an oil-burner in the current line-up.

On checking, the diesel was always the least selling engine after the other three power sources which kind of cements my memory that the Kona led the change away from diesel as it began to fall out of favour.

The new model sees the Kona remaining as the 10th best-selling model overall in Ireland with it being Hyundai’s second-best selling model after the Tucson.

The Kona has larger dimensions now with the most significant being the added length.

That leads to a much more spacious car and an increased boot size from 332litres to 466/493litres depending on where you set the rear seats.

In the metal the distinctive, separated rear light clusters with the indicators, reversing light and fog lights are carried over and remain located just behind the rear wheel arches.

They are really the only link to the old model with new front, back and sides.

The sides are more defined by sharp creases whereas the previous model was curvy and now looks like a scaled down Tucson.
The rear and front are where the style really impacts with full width light bars that look very clean and crisp.

The rear light bar curves a bit into the side blurring the lines between rear and side and the use of chrome effect on the windows rising up to the spoiler is a neat design touch.

I’d go so far as to say I agree with Hyundai’s label of sculpted lines to describe the Kona.

I had a white model which made it pop and would be my choice over the equally poppy, next best black colour.

Inside the new model is transformational with the latest in digital wizardry available from Hyundai.

It is very clean lined, and the infotainment system is quite easy to master. The driver’s display is not confusingly busy and presents the right information you need. The centre console is equally easily laid out and functional with the charging ports easy to reach and more importantly, easy to use.

It’s amazing the amount of charging we all need in our lives and the constant need to have a power charging source nearby at all times.

The sense of FOMO when we are disconnected is at odds with the cry that we want to be more disconnected.

Always a plus these days is separate button-controlled climate control which I really think should be a law.

The main competitor for the Kona, and the one with the cross-hairs on it, remains the Toyota C-HR.
All those are sold with hybrid technology.

The Kona’s Hyundai hybrid technology, cleverly called e-Motion, comes from a 1.6l petrol engine and a 43hp electric motor.

Combined maximum total power is 141hp that allows a 0-100km/h time of 10.9s.

There currently isn’t a plug-in version available. The setup is designed for maximum fuel efficiency and during my time with the Hybrid Kona I managed a very impressive 5.4l/100kms of the usual mixed driving albeit on my own most of the time, which is the norm and why Eamonn Ryan wants us to change but is very slow with in providing/encouraging the alternatives.

Can you believe there still isn’t a bus that interconnects with the M3 Parkway terminal rail station in Meath?

Seems integrated travel is only an experience you get outside of Ireland with silo mentality transport reserved for us here.
The drive in the Kona is all done very smoothly with gear changes in the Kona effected nearly imperceptibly.

The selection of electric motor or engine or for that matter both is the choice of the Kona’s computers, and they make a good job of it.

The aim is the most efficient use of resources all the time.

The petrol engine is quite smooth and if I don’t look at the energy use monitor it’s hard to know what you are using – a good thing.

I did find though that despite the headline 141hp power figure the car never felt like it had that available in the way it would feel in a petrol or diesel car.

In fact, the petrol only version I drove at the launch felt zippier.

It left me hankering for more time with it and its divine 6-speed manual gearbox.

But for every journey it felt adequate and not underpowered just not as feisty as the overall figure would suggest.

The C-HR is a target that will be hard to topple, and with a new model just launched even harder.

Where the Kona scores and secures buyers is with keener pricing and that 5-year warranty.

Oh, and they know a thing or two about good PCP offerings. Prices for the Kona start at €35,795 for the Signature trim maxing out at €39,295 for the N-Lines version with the one I had the Elegance costing €37,545.

The petrol only model starts at €30,895 and is well worth considering too.