Kona Electric lost ground to more affordable e-SUVs like the Nexon EV.
25 Jun 2024 | 3528 Views | By Akbar Merchant, Autocar India
Hyundai has finally discontinued the Kona Electric in India, five years after launching it in July 2019. While the company is selling new-gen Kona Electric overseas, in India, it will indirectly replace the electric crossover—its first electric offering for our market—with the more affordable Creta EV early next year.
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Hyundai has finally discontinued the Kona Electric in India, five years after launching it in July 2019. While the company is selling new-gen Kona Electric overseas, in India, it will indirectly replace the electric crossover—its first electric offering for our market—with the more affordable Creta EV early next year.
The Hyundai Kona Electric has been removed from the brand’s website. However, sources have told us that some dealers have unsold stocks, which are being offered at attractive discounts, depending on availability.
The Kona Electric SUVs were brought in as CKD units and priced at Rs 25.30 lakh onwards at launch. While Hyundai reduced prices by almost Rs 2 lakh towards the end, the introduction of smaller and more affordable e-SUVs such as the Tata Nexon EV, MG ZS EV, and Mahindra XUV400 meant that Hyundai’s offering was positioned higher and saw even less traction in the market.
In India, the Kona Electric featured a 39.2kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which powered a 136hp and 395Nm motor on the front axle. The battery had an ARAI-rated range of 452km on a single charge. In the 59 months that it has been on sale in India, Hyundai sold 2,329 units of the Kona Electric, or about 39 cars a month.
While many overseas markets, such as Indonesia, will see the launch of the new Kona Electric, there’s no news of this next-gen model coming to our shores. Hyundai will, however, bring in a “high volume” electric SUV to India in the form of the Creta EV, which is scheduled to go on sale by January.
As we reported earlier, the upcoming Creta EV will share a few things with the Kona Electric line-up. While the new mass-market e-SUV will borrow body panels, platform and a few other elements from the Creta to rein in costs, Hyundai will utilise the Kona EV's motor, battery and some interior bits on the India-bound Creta EV.
While the Kona EV was positioned a tad higher in the segment, the heavily localised Creta EV will be introduced at a lower price point and aimed squarely at the competition. Apart from the Creta EV, the midsize e-SUV segment will see new entrants like the Tata Curvv EV and the born-EV twins from Toyota, and Maruti next year, all of which are expected to be priced in a similar range.