2024 Hyundai Kona Electric gets more performance, larger batteries and faster charging

The South Korean automaker Hyundai is giving its subcompact electric SUV Kona a major makeover for the upcoming 2024 model year, whose exterior and interior changes have already been teased earlier this year. Now, the company has also revealed the small but definitely welcome technical improvements of the battery-powered model variant called the Hyundai Kona Electric.

According to a report by InsideEVs, the base model of the 2024 Hyundai Kona Electric gets the biggest powertrain upgrade that will increase its horsepower from 134 to 154. Additionally, the battery of the most affordable version can now store significantly more energy. Its capacity has been increased from 39 kWh to 48.4 kWh, which results in a range of up to 212 miles per charge according to the WLTP standard. This is a neat 12 percent increase compared to the 2023 Hyundai Kona Electric.

Unfortunately, the improvements for the second generation of the long-range model of the 2024 Hyundai Kona Electric are much more incremental. The subcompact SUV has been fitted with a 65.4 kWh battery, the additional 1.4 kWh of capacity should allow for 4 additional miles of range. The official WLTP range rating now stands at 304 miles. Furthermore, the peak output of the electric Hyundai Kona has also been ramped up by 13 horsepower, which is rather miniscule compared to the faster charging, which now allows to recharge from 10 to 80 percent in just 41 minutes, a 13 percent improvement. 

Please note that all these specifications only apply to the European version of the 2024 Hyundai Kona Electric, and that the corresponding EPA range rating in the United States will be quite a bit lower. Moreover, only the long-range model is currently available in North America.

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