Have electrical automobiles turn out to be mainstream? Maybe not. Kelley Blue Ebook father or mother firm Cox Automotive tasks that electrical automobiles (EVs) might turn out to be 10% of all new automobiles offered in America in 2025. The typical automobile on American roads is now pushing 13 years previous. It’s going to take a long time earlier than a lot of the automobiles round you in visitors are electrical.
However, perhaps EVs have gone mainstream. Already, you may be subsequent to at least one at a stoplight and don’t know. There are nice, sensible, easy-to-live-with electrical automobiles that may slide utterly below the radar.
Living proof: the 2025 Hyundai Kona Electrical.
Hyundai builds the Kona as a gas-powered compact SUV or an electrical one for america, whereas it additionally sells a hybrid model abroad. It’s an automotive multitool, if a pocket-sized one. The gas-powered Kona received our Greatest Purchase Award within the subcompact SUV class for 2025.
The electrical model shuttled me across the suburbs and downtown Washington, D.C., for per week. It was outstanding for the way unremarkable it was. In each model of the Kona, as our award discover says, “the completed product is larger than the sum of its many qualities.”
How does the electrical one differ? It will get away from a stoplight slightly faster, and I plugged it right into a wall to refuel it somewhat than stopping at a gasoline station.
My tester Kona was the N Line, Hyundai’s time period for a sporty-looking mannequin. Hyundai N automobiles are precise high-performance automobiles, and N Line fashions simply costume like them.
It got here in Final Purple Metallic with a black inside (the one possibility) and no further choices or packages. Its retail value was $40,325, counting $500 for the purple paint and $1,450 for supply.
The Kona Electrical will not be eligible for the federal authorities’s $7,500 EV tax rebate, which is one among its only a few flaws. Hyundai builds it in South Korea, so it might finally be uncovered to tariff-related value will increase. However Hyundai has pledged to not increase costs till June on the earliest.
Simple to Love in City/Suburban Driving
The Kona Electrical is available in two energy ranges. The bottom mannequin SE pulls on faucet simply 133 horsepower. All different trim ranges, together with the N Line that Hyundai loaned me to check, have 201 hp. In each case, that energy goes solely to the entrance wheels.
All-wheel drive (AWD) is perhaps good in the event you dwell within the snowbelt. Hyundai doesn’t provide it. However front-wheel drive (FWD) works properly for many of us, and snow tires would doubtless make this grippy sufficient for any driving circumstance you’re more likely to take a compact crossover into.
The bottom SE has 200 miles of vary, and the N Line will get simply 230 miles between expenses. Even the longest-range Kona fashions get simply 261. Surveys present that almost all People need at the very least 300, in order that will probably be a limitation for some. However, in fact, most of us not often drive greater than 230 miles in a stretch. For those who do, this isn’t the automobile for you.
Dealing with is crisp, with comparatively gentle steering effort. Braking is unexceptional and assured. Electrical automobiles are likely to speed up shortly. The Kona Electrical will not be a efficiency automobile, nevertheless it packs a satisfying energy punch if it is advisable to go on the freeway.
SUV or Hatchback? Both Manner, It Has Usable Area
If you need an electrical automobile that appears distinctive and shouts its EV standing, Hyundai has a number of it will possibly promote you (the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 are among the many most unique-looking automobiles on the street).
This isn’t one among them. The Kona Electrical is a stealth EV. That’s true, after all, as a result of there’s a gas-powered model. However even when there weren’t, a pointy diagonal cutline within the doorways and faceted styling make this look one thing like an Elantra crossover.
It wasn’t designed to look sporty, however twin spoilers do a stunning quantity to make it appear to be it is aware of what it’s doing. I’m usually anti-spoiler, however this one helps the design.
Hyundai sells it as an SUV. With simply 5.9 inches of floor clearance and a front-wheel-drive configuration, it’s not an off-roader. It’s extra like a tall hatchback.
The cabin is roomy and practical. A pair of 12.3-inch screens mounted like one broad display screen provides it a high-tech look. However Hyundai additionally provides you a button for most important capabilities, so that you’re not caught paging by way of display screen menus to regulate the temperature or flip up the amount.
The N Line will get purple stitching on black leatherette and Alcantara faux-suede seats. It’s a sporty contact that doesn’t look juvenile.
With the rear seats in place, the Kona Electrical gives 25.5 cubic toes of cargo house. That’s commonplace for the subcompact SUV class. However with the rear seats folded, capability jumps to 63.7. That’s aggressive with bigger compact SUVs.
10 Years of Peace of Thoughts
All that, and the Kona Electrical’s greatest function may nonetheless be the piece of paper they hand you if you purchase one. It carries a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain guarantee — almost double the protection of most subcompact SUVs.
With the economic system as unpredictable because it’s been in recent times, a decade of predictable transportation bills (and by no means paying for gasoline) is perhaps its greatest function.
I’d be happy with the 2025 Hyundai Kona Electrical if it have been a fundamental commuter automobile that allow you to pay electrical energy costs as a substitute of gasoline costs if you drive. Nevertheless it’s greater than that, with a touch of fashion, the cargo house of a bigger automobile, and a bit of electrical zip if you want it.
A variety below 300 miles is a limitation for some. However in the event you not often take main street journeys or want a second automobile, it’s arduous to beat the predictability and easy-to-like nature of Hyundai’s stealth EV.
