Hyundai Kona Electric flown in for Fieldays

Hyundai New Zealand is showcasing the all-electric Kona SUV at Fieldays from June 13-16 after bringing it in especially by plane.

We feature the Australasian reveal of the Kona Electric and chat with Hyundai New Zealand general manager Andy Sinclair at the Mystery Creek site near Hamilton.

A full public launch will be held later this year.

The new zero-emission Kona Electric model is a direct development of the technology from the Ioniq, the top selling new EV in New Zealand last year after being launched in February 2017.

The Kona Electric cleverly blends ground-breaking EV technology with New Zealand’s favourite body style – the SUV, Sinclair says.

“It’s fantastic to be able to bring the full EV version of the Kona to New Zealand so quickly and to showcase it at Fieldays. Due to massive public interest in this car we have worked hard to ensure New Zealand is one of the very first markets to be able to see the Kona Electric. There’s a lot of excitement among the public for this new model.”

Sinclair says Hyundai New Zealand has gone for the 64kWh Kona with the longest range (more than 400km) in recognition of Kiwis’ active, outdoors lifestyle.

The battery can be charged from empty to 80% in 75 minutes using a fast charger.

Apart from its drivetrain and driver cockpit, the new model is similar to other Kona models.

“We see an electric version as a chance to offer our customers another way to enjoy the new Kona’s style and practicality with emission free performance,” Sinclair says.

The Kona Electric features the SmartSense safety package, including the forward collision-avoidance assist with pedestrian detection, lane keeping assist, lane following assist and intelligent speed limit warning, which identifies the roads being driven on and can display the speed limit in the TFT info screen cluster.

The car’s ‘infotainment’ system has connectivity through both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto accessible by the dash mounted LCD touchscreen with seamless integration of the owner’s smartphone. The Elite model has an eight speaker 45W Krell sound system.

Final pricing will be announced closer to the launch, although customers can pre-order now from their local dealer.