New 2021 Hyundai Kona Electric facelift on sale now at £30,125
Hyundai has revised the Kona Electric with a bold new look and a host of technology upgrades
The facelifted Hyundai Kona Electric is available to order in the UK now, with prices starting from £30,125 for the brand’s popular compact electric crossover.
The mid-life update is intended to keep the Kona Electric at the sharpest end of a growing pack of affordable compact electric cars - the likes of the Vauxhall Corsa-e, Volkswagen ID.3 and Peugeot e-2008 have all arrived in the time since the Kona Electric’s launch in 2019.
Like the old model, the facelifted Hyundai Kona Electric is offered with a choice of two electric motor and battery combinations.
The entry-level model features a 39.2kWh battery pack and a 134bhp electric motor, which gives the crossover a top speed of 96mph and a maximum range of 189 miles. It’s also the model you’ll pay £30,125 for after the UK plug-in car grant.
Hyundai’s long-range electric drivetrain is priced from £35,225 after the grant, and comprises a 64kWh battery pack and a 201bhp electric motor. It increases the Kona’s maximum range to 300 miles. The crossover’s top speed also climbs to 104mph and, when plugged into a 100kW fast-charger, the EV will recover an 80 per cent charge in around 47 minutes.
Hyundai has expanded the Kona’s range of trim-levels as part of the update, with a new entry-level SE Connect and a range-topping Ultimate model joining the fold. The EV’s existing Premium specification has also received a few tweaks to suit the new line-up.
The base-model Kona SE Connect is only available with the 39kWh powertrain. Standard equipment includes 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights, electrically adjustable door mirrors, rear parking sensors, keyless go and adaptive cruise control with a stop/start function for slow-moving traffic.
Inside, the cheapest Kona Electric comes with a leather steering wheel, air conditioning, a premium eight-speaker stereo system and a fresh 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, lifted from the new i20 supermini. The old Kona’s 10.25-inch infotainment system also comes as standard across the range, offering support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Buyers get a strong level of standard safety equipment, too, including lane-keeping assist, hill-start assist, a brace of airbags and a forward collision avoidance system with cyclist and pedestrian detection.
Mid-range Premium cars can be specced with either of Hyundai’s electric powertrains, with prices starting from £31,475 for the 39kWh option and £35,225 for the 64kWh option.
Upgrades over the base-model include LED headlights, power folding door mirrors, front and rear parking sensors, UV-shielding privacy glass and automatic windscreen wipers. Inside, buyers also get heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror and a wireless smartphone charging pad.
There are a couple of extra safety features, too, including a blind spot collision avoidance system, rear cross-traffic assist and an intelligent speed limit warning which displays the current road’s speed restrictions on the dashboard.
The range-topping Kona Electric Ultimate is only available with the longer range 64kWh electric powertrain and has a starting price of £37,375. Upgrades over the Premium spec include a power-operated sunroof, a head-up display, electrically adjustable and ventilated leather seats, heated rear seats, and Hyundai’s semi-autonomous Highway Drive assist system.
Every Kona Electric also comes with a five-year unlimited mileage vehicle warranty, an eight-year (or 100,000 mile) battery warranty, Hyundai’s own roadside assistance service and 10 years of mapping updates for the infotainment system.
Hyundai Kona Electric: facelift updates
Cosmetic revisions focus on making the Kona Electric look less like its combustion engined sibling, and more like a purpose-built EV.
To achieve this, the petrol car’s radiator grille and front bumper have been replaced by a smoothed nose cone, which brings a slight aerodynamic improvement over the pre-facelifted model. Hyundai has also added a pair of vertical inlets on the front bumper, to reduce the amount of turbulent air in the front wheel arches and minimise drag.
The new front bumper is complemented by a fresh set of daytime running lights and new LED headlights. The old car’s black body mouldings are now colour-coded, while the rear lights have been swapped for updated units. Hyundai also offers five new paint finishes, taking the total number of colour choices to 10.
There’s also a new ambient lighting system for the driver and passenger footwell and two new interior colour packages, offering buyers the choice of black or two-tone grey upholstery, in cloth or leather.
Hyundai’s engineers have applied updates to the electric crossover’s safety equipment, too. New features for the facelifted model include blind-spot and rear cross-traffic collision avoidance systems, along with a safe exit warning system that informs passengers if there’s approaching traffic when they go to leave the vehicle.
Not ready to commit to an electric vehicle yet? Check out the new Hyundai Tucson PHEV instead…
