The Hyundai Kona remains a benchmark in the world of electric vehicles. We’re going to see what she’s got on our big summer and winter trips. Between recharging speed, consumption, costs linked to fast charging, how will it rank among the other electric cars in this event?
Cutting the road in an electric car is no longer a problem today, thanks to the drastic increase in the density of fast charging stations and the various networks available. However, depending on the vehicle envisaged, crossing France requires more or less time. In this series of files, we therefore examine what two representative journeys of summer and winter holidays give in terms of cost, time spent loading and total journey time.
As usual, the rules will be as follows: the start is at 100% battery, the finish at 20% and the vehicle is traveling at the limit speeds (130 km/h on the motorway). We will recall the characteristics of the vehicle (autonomy, battery, charging power) and compare them to the reality on the ground.
Thus, with the help of future folders like this, you will be able to define the one that will allow you to arrive safely at the lowest cost and as quickly as possible. Without further ado, let’s take a look at how big trips are in the Hyundai Kona 64 kWh.
The characteristics of the Hyundai Kona 64 kWh
The 2022 version of the Hyundai Kona that we are interested in here sports a 64 kWh battery, for a WLTP range of 484 kilometers. If its autonomy is rather very good, this is unfortunately not the case for its fast charging capacity. Indeed, the manufacturer announces 47 minutes to go from 10 to 80% battery in optimal conditions, which does not bode well for long journeys of several hundred kilometres.
Equipped with a Combo CCS port, the Hyundai Kona will navigate among all the charging networks available in France, whether Ionity, Fastned, Totalenergies or Tesla Superchargers open to all, ensuring that you will find a terminal available almost everywhere. . As usual, A Better Route Planner will be used to plan the routes, with the default consumption reference for the car model considered today.
If the Hyundai Kona has long been very popular at Hyundai, since the arrival of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and its 800-volt architecture, it is true that it is less on the rise. And for good reason, the Ioniq 5 is among the champions of fast charging, displaying a passage from 10 to 80% in just 18 minutes. It takes 30 minutes more for the Hyundai Kona, but we’ll see if it still allows you to travel without a hitch, even if it takes more time.
Route planning
To put all vehicles on an equal footing, we always start trips at 100% battery, considering that you have to pay for this filling at the average price per kWh in France, currently at 0.17 euros. The 64 kWh then represent €10.90cost that we will take into account during the assessments of each trip.
The first major route will simulate a summer vacation from Orléans to Arcachon (530 kilometres), while the winter route will start in Caen and end in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (850 kilometres).
For the summer route, the parameters shown in A Better Route Planner are as follows: 25 degrees Celsius outside temperature, no wind, arrival at a charging station with 10% battery remaining and arrival at destination at 20%. For the winter trip, it’s essentially the same, apart from the weather, where we chose a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius.
The balance sheet of the different routes
One hour charge for 530 kilometers
Our summer ride highlights the difference between WLTP autonomy and real life. Indeed, on paper, a vehicle with more than 480 kilometers of autonomy should be able to travel 530 kilometers without wasting too much time recharging, right? It is not so, since it is almost an hour of charging (58 minutes) which seems necessary for the Hyundai Kona 64 kWh to reach Orléans in Arcachon under the imposed conditions.
Two charges are offered by A Better Route Planner, sometimes using an Ionity terminal, and sometimes a Tesla Supercharger. Only for these two charges, it is necessary to count 50 euros at the time of writing, since the price per kilowatt hour is 0.79 euros at Tesla and 0.69 euros at Ionity.
In total, the 530 kilometer journey is covered in 5 hours and 47 minutes, while the estimated average consumption is 208 Wh/km. Thus, with such consumption, the maximum autonomy barely exceeds 300 kilometers. By adding the cost of home charging to the price of fast charging, we get a rate of 61 euros for this summer trip.
Nearly two and a half hours of charging for a winter vacation
Winter is a difficult period for electric cars, as consumption soars due to falling temperatures. It is for this reason that we have chosen to put the Hyundai Kona to the test on our reference route which links Normandy to Haute-Savoie. Five refills are required to arrive with 20% battery remaining, for a total of 2 hours and 24 minutes charge.
Three consecutive charges last more than half an hour. The remaining two are 17 and 21 minutes respectively. It is therefore necessary to take your time during long trips in the Hyundai Kona 64 kWh, which does not manage to travel more than 170 kilometers between two charges on this trip.
Several charging networks are available along the route. Our simulation uses both a Tesla Supercharger, two Ionity terminals, and even the new Kallista Energy charging station in Normandy. Not far from Avallon, a free charging station is even used, but it is likely that this terminal will not remain free for long, which is why we will also consider a chargeable charge not far from there (at the Tesla Supercharger in Avallon) .
In total, the costs related to fast charging on this route are between 87 and 121 euros. By adding the departure charge to these costs, we obtain a fare between 98 and 132 euros for this great winter trip.. Consumption is estimated at 246 Wh/km, which is 18% higher than on the summer route. The autonomy of the Hyundai Kona in these conditions drops to 260 kilometers with a full battery, far from the 484 kilometers of WLTP autonomy.
Consumption, cost of recharging and range
We summarize the costs and charging times (including home charging of 10.90 euros) in the table below. As we go through our examples, you will be able to see where the vehicle you are interested in is positioned in relation to the others on a similar journey.
| Vehicle | Summer ride cost | Summer ride charging time | Total summer journey time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Model 3 Drive | 36 – 49 € | 31 mins | 5 h 09 min |
| Tesla Model 3 Long Autonomy | 31 – 45 € | 13 – 25 mins | 4 hrs 56 mins |
| Kia EV6 58kWh | 52 – 60 € | 38 – 43 mins | 5 hrs 30 mins |
| BMW i4 | 48 – 58 € | 22 – 37 mins | 5 hrs 11 mins |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 72 € | 36 mins | 5 hrs 16 mins |
| Mercedes-Benz EQS | 44 € | 14 mins | 4 hrs 48 mins |
| Tesla Model Y Propulsion | 46 € | 34 mins | 5 hrs 30 mins |
| MG MG4 64 kWh | 66 € | 49 mins | 5h 39min |
| Renault Megane e-tech EV60 | 67 € | 56 mins | 5h 40 mins |
| Kia EV6 77kWh | 56 € | 26 mins | 5 h 07 min |
| Hyundai Kona 64kWh | 61 € | 58 mins | 5 hrs 47 mins |
| Peugeot e-208 | 73 € | 1 hr 13 mins | 6 h 09 min |
| Vehicle | Winter trip cost | Winter ride charging time | Total winter journey time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Model 3 Drive | 102 € | 1 hr 42 mins | 9:16 a.m. |
| Tesla Model 3 Long Autonomy | 101.3 € | 1 hr 02 mins | 8:27 a.m. |
| Kia EV6 58kWh | 120 € | 1hr 54mins | 9 h 59 min |
| BMW i4 | 147 € | 1 hr 32 mins | 9 h 08 min |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 145 € | 1 hr 29 mins | 9:14 a.m. |
| Mercedes-Benz EQS | 115 € | 50 mins | 8 h 03 min |
| Tesla Model Y Propulsion | 120 € | 1 hr 46 mins | 9 h 42 min |
| MG MG4 | 109 – 141 € | 2 hrs 23 mins | 10 h 02 min |
| Renault Megane e-tech EV60 | 104 – 139 € | 2 hrs 12 mins | 9 h 49 min |
| Kia EV6 77kWh | 143 € | 1 hr 14 mins | 8 hrs 54 mins |
| Hyundai Kona 64kWh | 98 – 132 € | 2 hrs 24 mins | 10 h 01 min |
| Peugeot e-208 | 168 € | 2 hrs 49 mins | 10 h 59 min |
Does the Hyundai Kona 64 kWh compete with other electric cars on long trips?
As you can see from the summary tables, the Hyundai Kona is one of the slowest cars in this long-distance travel exercise. On the reference route of 530 kilometers, it requires 58 minutes of charging where many vehicles are located around 30 minutes of charging required.
This summer trip has a cost per 100 kilometers of 11.50 euros, which is rather well situated compared to other electric vehicles in this exercise. In particular, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Renault Mégane E-Tech EV60 or the MG4 64 kWh all have a higher cost than the Hyundai Kona 64 kWh.
The winter drive, for its part, shows the shortcomings of the Hyundai Kona compared to other electric cars: fast charging is not really. Indeed, with nearly two and a half hours of charge in 850 kilometers, we reach the limits of what is acceptable for many.
The cost per 100 kilometers of this winter journey is between 11.50 euros (with a free charge) and 15.50 euros, again lower than many other electric cars. Thereby, if the Hyundai Kona 64 kWh is not among the fastest to carve the road, its consumption on the whole reasonable allows it to catch up a little in terms of the costs of these long trips. It remains to be determined whether this is a determining factor for those who consider this vehicle to be the main car in the household.
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