We’ve missed out on many vehicles over the history of the automotive industry because these vehicles were built in foreign countries that weren’t as strict with their regulations. While this means we’ve mostly avoided some of the same issues that other countries have faced with the environmental pollution and challenges, we want to have the benefit of enjoying every vehicle offered for the drive, like the Hyundai Kona. With the anticipation of one particular model coming to the market next year, we hope the company will also offer us the variations of this model shortly thereafter to make sure we can have more of what’s expected on the road.
The movement of the future of the automotive industry is toward EV models which should be the wave of the future. Just like how they delivered the Hyundai Elantra when affordable small sedans were in high demand, Hyundai was ready to jump on the ball in the realm of electric vehicles. The subject of an EV and what it will be on the road comes to mind as we see a spy photograph that was recently released of a Hyundai Kona EV being charged up. This SUV isn’t expected to be on the market until 2018 and the EV is a model that isn’t currently slated to be offered in the US at all. This makes us feel like the team at Hyundai doesn’t trust that the US wants EV models.
What to Expect With the Kona
The new Kona crossover SUV will be a compact model that will be ready to drive sometime in the early part of 2018 in our market. This SUV is small and powered by either a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated engine or a 1.6-liter turbocharged model. This SUV is already on sale in Korea and has had an excellent following so far. The EV model may be offered at some point in 2018 or 2019, and the rumored range that could be offered for this EV model in the markets that will have it is around 242 miles.
Before we get too upset that the Kona EV isn’t slated for the US, there is a good chance the amazing demand for crossover SUVs on the markets in the US will cause the team at Hyundai to begin to offer this model as the one that we can enjoy driving in the future. Even if this SUV is only sold in areas that adhere to the CARB regulations, it would be a boon for the market because we don’t currently have many EV or hybrid SUV models on the market to give us the drive and the roominess we need.
The Kona EV is one of the 31 “clean mobility” models that Hyundai has promised to bring to the market by 2020, which means we should expect to see nearly every model from this brand offered with some form of EV or hybrid technology for the drive we want to enjoy on the road. We’ll also see some hydrogen fuel cell vehicles from this brand as they seem to be one of the only brands that continue to be committed to this type of fuel for the drive that we want to enjoy. Eventually, we should see a full lineup of hybrid, EV, and FCV models offered from this brand.
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