Hyundai Kona Electric can do 635 MILES on a single charge

The Hyundai Kona Electric comes with one of the best ranges of any electric car on sale, but it can do much better, with Hyundai showing a range of 635 miles achievable.

The slow burn of electric cars as a viable alternative to ICE cars has now got to the point where buyers do have real alternatives with EVs which can actually do a whole week’s motoring on a single charge.

Of course, the elephant in the room is still the price of EVs, but even that is starting to get closer to an equivalent ICE car, and supply and charging issues. But EVs are now past the early adopter stage as mainstream players like VW and Hyundai occupy the space with properly credible EVs.

The next few months we’re going to start seeing the new VW ID.3 on the road in the UK as deliveries begin, but Hyundai are way ahead of the VW group with an appealing and able EV – the Kona Electric.

Offering a properly viable alternative to a family car, the Kona Electric offers appealing power and range – now some 301 miles officially and 201bhp – and a price, for the long-range 64kWh version, of around £33k after PiCG.

But is that 301-mile range actually achievable, you ask? Oh, yes, real world tests come close to that figure. But it seems, with a bit of effort, the Kona Electric can go much, much further.

Three teams of two – two from Hyundai and one from Auto Bild – took a trio of unmodified Kona Electrics off to Lausitzring, a track in Germany and home to Dekra, the European vehicle inspection company, to see just how well the Kona Electric could perform.

They ran the Konas for three days, with 36 driver changes at speeds of 18-19mph (which are about city average speeds, say Hyundai) and came away with an average range on a full charge of 635 miles. Which is quite remarkable.

So, if you have range anxiety but want an EV, the answer is to get a Kona Electric and drive it everywhere at 19mph. We’re sure other road users will understand.