The Hyundai Kona Electric is serious business. Not only does it have impressive modern looks, it also has performance credentials to back up its design. Aesthetics notwithstanding, the Kona Electric’s biggest attraction is its performance capability, which amounts to as much as 201 horsepower and 291 pound-feet of torque.

2019 Hyundai Kona Performance

It’s hard to overstate the Hyundai Kona Electric’s performance credentials because the figures Hyundai is throwing out are impressive across the board. Let’s start with the shorter-range option, which has a battery pack that can produce an output of 132 horsepower and 291 pound-feet of torque. The latter is incredible because, for such a small crossover, the Kona Electric can generate the same amount of torque as the Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce. It’s also just 8 pound-feet less than what the Porsche 911 (997) GT3 has at its disposal. The capability of the Kona Electric’s 39.2 kWh battery pack helps it accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in just 9.3 seconds on its way to a top speed of 104 mph. Combine those numbers with the crossover’s expected range — 186 miles on a single charge — and those are very impressive returns.

It gets better, though.

The Kona Electric is also available with a 64 kWh battery pack. It returns the same amount of torque — 291 pound-feet — but has 201 horsepower. The figures translate to an acceleration time of 7.6 seconds from 0 to 62 mph. More importantly, the battery pack comes with a range of 292 miles, a figure that would put it in the vicinity of the Tesla Model X.

If these numbers are impressive, a lot of it is due to the two lithium-ion battery packs that Hyundai developed. Charging these batteries also take little time, specifically when you’re using a 100 kW fast charger. All it takes is 54 minutes to charge the battery pack to 80 percent capacity. If you’re using a standard AC source, charging time is much longer at six hours and 10 minutes for the short-range model and nine hours and 40 min for the long-range version.

Unfortunately, the Hyundai Kona Electric isn’t hitting the market until the latter part of 2018. But since the small SUV thought of as a tech flagship from Hyundai, waiting for it is inconsequential when the power and performance returns are this promising.

References

Hyundai Kona

Read our full review on the 2018 Hyundai Kona.

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