Faults:

Blew a tire on a pot hole... twice.

General Comments:

TLDR: fun car, go buy if it's what you're looking for.

First off, it's a compact tall riding crossover SUV type thing with SUPER stiff suspension, low pro tires, and no AWD. What it really is, is a hot hatch with some extra ground clearance.

In normal driving conditions it feels like a slightly stiff, slightly noisy (mostly due to tires), pretty quick little crossovery thing that sometimes jerks shifts. Eco mode feels basically the same, just kinda more dull. In sport it feels like a quick and nimble FWD hatchback. Body control is well managed, brakes are better than they have any right to be, steering is... Carpal tunnel levels of numb, but very responsive and direct. Fun little car!

Wait ... there's another mode?

N mode is stupid and the entire purpose for this post. In this mode the exhaust crackles almost like it has a custom tune, it's loud enough that my teenagers actually thought it was aftermarket (it's not). Everything I've read claims that this car has "276” HP. I'm pretty sure that Hyundai N division is digging into their BMW M Roots and fudging their numbers because my butt Dyno registers at least 300. The LSD does a pretty good job of sending the power to where it needs to go and keeping you out of trouble. The chassis tuning is surprisingly aggressive; on throttle it's pretty neutral, but will understeer if you push it beyond its limits; however off throttle that back end is not shy and will come around if you're not careful. The steering is honestly too active for safe street driving, it's darty and a bit nerve wracking in normal driving conditions. It wants to dive in with the most minimal input, it was clearly set up for track driving. If you daily drive this thing in its most aggressive mode, you better have a good chiropractor. It is stiff and unforgiving. The dual clutch transmission is almost too aggressive, it's fast and responds really well as long as you're within the confines of its shift logic. As soon as you try to drop more than one gear at a time it gets confused and takes a second to figure out what to do. If you're driving in this mode, then you should keep it in manual and tell it what to do because if you expect it to drop 3-4 gears on its own then you're going to be disappointed. However if you pop it up (or down) one gear at a time it will give you a satisfying punch with every paddle pull. This feels like a whole 'nother car in it's most aggressive mode.

Custom modes are what you make them. In custom one I have the engine and exhaust in their most aggressive modes and everything else in their less aggressive sport mode. It makes for what I think is the best balance for street driving. Custom two is the same but the exhaust is in its quietest mode... I affectionately refer to it as "stealth mode".

The build quality is Hyundai... Full stop. Acceptable but not fantastic. The seats are pretty good but the plastics are plasticky, carpets are thin and cheap, infotainment isn't bad but has its hiccups. It works, stereo is pretty good though. Most important thing is get rid of the factory Pirellis, I noticed a drastic improvement with the Continental DSW 06+ tires I put on in all aspects of driving (ALL OF THEM!)

Overall this this car is way more fun than it has any right to be. In normal day-to-day operations it feels like a normal car, but when you decide it's time to have a little fun, it is way more capable than what most people can get out of it on the road, and it can impress on an autocross course or on a track day.

Faults:

N/A.

General Comments:

I test drove a Mid Trim Hyundai Kona EV - full electric rechargeable vehicle, sold here in Canada. So this 'review' is only from a drive test, not a long term experience. It won't say anything about reliability.

PROS

- The Kona EV drives exactly like a gas car, minus the engine noise. Even the electric motor feeling seems similar to a gas engine. Of course, the electric engine is more powerful, but under normal driving conditions, without flooring it, it really feels like any gasoline car. This may be both a good thing and a downside. In fact, you feel at home right away, no need to be intimidated by it being an electric car. On the other side, some may feel somehow disappointed because other than knowing this doesn't take gas, they will quickly forget they are driving an electric car, so there's no such thing as a 'special feeling', despite the high price tag and technology.

- Good ground clearance, which is good in deep snow (assuming you have proper snow tires).

- Good suspension feeling, feels like a relatively heavy car (which is actually is because of the large battery), and the car feels posed and solid, with a slightly cushy feeling. The suspension absorbs road imperfections pretty well, and should offer a good ride on long trips.

- High seated driving position - not like on a large SUV, but clearly much higher than on most sedan cars. For this reason, entrance is easy. Good driving position with the steering at the right place and distance to pedals well designed. The steering was adjustable both ways on the tested car, with plenty of travel, easy to find a good position. I'm 6ft tall and had plenty of legroom at the pedals and at my head with the seat adjusted almost all the way 'up' and back. Behind me, with the front seat all the way back, there was still good amount of leg room - I could place my legs and sit behind my driver's seat.

- This car had transmission controls P D R and N as buttons - takes a little time to get used, but I loved the idea. They way they are put together is confusing though, and you’ll keep looking to locate the correct button every time you’ll need to press one. I also wish they were rather placed somewhere closer to the dashboard. Same for the optional start button, it's located low and hidden behind the steering wheel. All these buttons should be easily visible and accessible without having to look down or behind the steering wheel.

- The instrument panel behind the steering looks nice and seems generally user friendly, but does need a learning curve for the various 'electric' functions.

- Climate controls are a little confusing as you need to watch the display to see what the setting is. Hyundai climate buttons are not very user friendly - true in other Hyundai cars as well. The heating worked very well (the car was tested in winter), don't know about the cooling during summer time.

- On this mid trim, the display had touch function and had good appearance.

- The car has three drive modes: Eco, Normal and Sport. I felt on Eco and Normal modes the acceleration pedal was a little sensitive when moving on: hard to manage to get the car moving on smoothly. On the Eco mode, when lifting the foot off the accelerator pedal, the cars 'brakes' a little to engage the regeneration. This doesn't happen as much in the two other modes. The Sport mode actually is the one that feels exactly like a gas car when driving on normal acceleration.

CONS

- The original low rolling resistance tires are noisy. Once you will replace them with a better quality 'normal' tire, this should no longer be an issue.

- The steering has absolutely no mechanical feeling. It's by far the numbest steering I've ever seen. It's responsive so no problem controlling the car, but if you like a sporty feeling, this is not the car for you.

- Poor rear visibility. There are park assist and line change warning options (the salesman also spoke about emergency braking assist), but the rear windows are small, and the rear view mirror is 'intelligent' and self dimming, but contrary to other mirrors, this one was like tinted and not very clear. It was a cloudy day at noon, so the mirror should have been more clear.

- Seat comfort is that of an economic car. They are not bad, but not on the comfy side either. They feel a little on the cheap side. Perhaps for long drives some will want to take a pause at some point. Surprisingly enough, the leather seats feel less supporting than the clothed seats - I've tried both. The leather seats are electrical and add lumbar support, but somehow the cushion had a less good feel, compared to the clothed ones. The clothed seats don't have lumbar adjustment, but their shape was rather OK, my back didn't hurt. For short drives the seats should be plenty good, but again, I would rather prefer the clothed ones.

- At speed, the rear end of the car feels on the heavy side, and has some roll when changing lanes or taking an exit. It's not that stable and I suspect you will feel it during side winds.

- Here in Canada, only the higher trim has GPS and maps on the display - both lower trims don't have this option.

- Trunk space is average. I hesitated if this is a PRO or CON, but in the end, this is a small size car. That said, the trunk is not tiny, perhaps you can fit two large luggages sitting up, after removing the trunk cover. There is no spare tire and no place for such. The bottom cover also has an small annoying incline in the lower position.

OVERALL

- I did like this car for feeling just like a regular gas car. It's not too small inside, and the controls are generally easy to use (with some exceptions). It is not a sporty car by any means, rather an easy to drive EV car. Downside, I would say is the seats; not bad, but somehow lacking 'something' to be pleasant on longer drives.