Video: Up Close With the 2024 Hyundai Kona

the end of the year. I mean, we named the Niro Hybrid our best car of 2023 so there's a chance that the Kona could follow in its footsteps. Let's not worry about awards right now, but let's dig into what the Kona Electric, N Line, and Limited have to offer. So this is the 2024 Kona Electric, and as you can see it's got this lighting element that stretches all the way across the hood. On the electric versions, it's pixelated so it has these little dividing lines through the light and you also have pixelated elements down here in the grill. It's also this very actually handsome yellow color. I've been seeing yellow on more and more new cars recently and I'm wondering if it's this year's it color. I really like it here. On the gas powered trim levels you'll have slightly different lighting elements and then a slightly different lower styling because there is actually a gas engine, but for the most part it's a good looking change on the electric, and the N Line you'll have body color cladding. On the Limited that's also here, you'll get this sort of gray vaguely rugged looking trim that isn't body color so it helps it stand out a little bit more. But overall, very handsome looking car. Not quite the Niro in terms of good lookingness to me, but still pretty good. The sportier N Line also gets unique 19 inch wheels, dual exhaust tips, and a really aggressive looking roof spoiler on the back. It's not quite the full end treatment, but that should be coming soon as well. In back of the electric, you get more of the pixelated lighting elements that Hyundai's using throughout its electrified lineup, up here along the lift gate and then down here across the bumper. The 2024 Kona is longer, wider, and has a longer wheel base than its predecessor. And what that really translates into is interior space. This is a great use of space. The material's quality is about what you'd expect from where we think the Kona is going to fall price-wise, but it does make use of some interesting materials like this, again, pixelated fabric trim on the doors. You get this nice trim as well here on this parcel shelf. One cool thing I haven't seen before is a USB C port that can switch from charge only to data and charge with just the push of a button. It looks a little different in the other Konas, but it is here. Also, wireless device charging, lots of good physical controls, dual 12.3 inch screens, one four year instrument panel, one four year infotainment. Looks good, looks high tech, looks modern. There's a weird blank panel over here. It looks like it's sort of covered with speaker fabric. We have not gotten a really good answer on what this is or would be. We were told "it's a design flow element" quote unquote, which sure. I don't know why it's there, but it is. It's there in all of the Konas that are here on the show floor. Another important thing is that Hyundai has made good use of switching to this sort of unconventional gear selector. It frees up a lot of center console space and rather than just using it for nothing you get a lot of storage space, two good size cup holders, more storage space, storage in the center console. It's a good use of space and most importantly for me this is a small SUV, but I fit just fine. Backseat is a little bit of a different story though. Now that we're in the backseat of the Kona Electric you can start to see where there's some compromises you're gonna have to make with adult passengers. I do have okay headroom, but taller passengers would be pushing it and my knees are a little bit higher than I would like and the seat in my roughly preferred driving position is pretty close to my legs. I don't have a lot of knee room. One advantage of this being the electric is that there's no transmission tunnel here, so I do have some extra leg room to stretch to the side, sort of like when you stick your foot in the aisle in an airplane. But overall, not the most comfortable backseat, not the worst. I would like a little more room, but another thing to note is that Hyundai has done a really good job of differentiating the interiors. We're still in the electric, get this nice gray faux leather, some yellow accents to match the paint color. In the N Line you get a sportier looking interior with some contrast stitching that really helps differentiate it as a sportier version. And then the Limited is perfectly fine. It's pretty much an all black interior, not very exciting, sort of makes it feel like the cheapest of the bunch in terms of material's quality. But overall not terrible. But again, the biggest issue for me is just passenger room. I could use more. Hyundai designed this car as an EV first and an internal combustion car second. So let's start with the EV statistics. 48.6 kilowatt hour battery is standard, making 133 horsepower, and 188 pounds feet of torque with front wheel drive. There's an optional longer range battery that's 64.8 kilowatt hours and that makes 201 horsepower and 188 pounds feet of torque, still front wheel drive. The maximum estimated range for the electric is currently 260 miles, but that hasn't been finalized yet so stay tuned. Hyundai does say that for charging purposes the Kona Electric can go from 10% to 80% charge in 43 minutes when using DC fast charging. Unfortunately, it does use the older 400 volt architecture instead of the more modern 800 volt that you're finding in the ionic line of EVs. Other engine options, gas engine options for the N Line and Limited that's a 1.6 liter four cylinder turbocharged engine with 190 horsepower and 195 pounds feet of torque. That gets you an eight speed automatic transmission with front wheel drive standard and all-wheel drive optional. There's also a two liter four cylinder that makes 147 horsepower and 132 pound speed of torque and that gets paired with a CVT. Those are for other gas trims that have not been revealed yet. These updates to the 2024 Kona should make what was already a strong SUV. Even stronger, though we'll have to wait to drive it to see if it all comes together into one cohesive package. That should happen closer to this summer when the Kona goes on sale and we should have pricing and fuel economy data around that time so stay tuned. For more on the 2024 Hyundai Kona and everything else here at the 2023 New York Auto Show be sure to head to cars.com.