New Hyundai Kona Electric is bigger & more beautiful than old model – but firm’s other little runaround is better value

HYUNDAI makes all sorts of cars for all sorts of people.

Like Ford used to do.

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The £15k i10 is a corking little runaround for young and old. Outgrow that and there’s the i20 hatchback and the even-bigger-still i30 – plus proper fun sporty versions called i20 N and i30 N.

There’s a family of crossovers in sizes S/M/L – Kona, Tucson and Santa Fe.

Kona is petrol hybrid or EV. Your choice.

The mega-selling Tucson and seven-seat Santa Fe have plug-in hybrid versions that can do it all with ease: Long-haul trips home to the family and short runs around town on battery power alone. Then there’s the Ioniq electric car family. Ioniq 5 is a sci-fi hatch and Ioniq 6 is an arc-shaped saloon.

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They have pixel lights inspired by Eighties video games and super-fast charging tech matched only by Porsche and Audi. And sister firm Kia, of course.

The box-fresh Ioniq 5 N is a face- melting 650hp and Top Gear’s Car of the Year. Ioniq 7 is a big, boxy SUV coming in 2025.

Like I said, Hyundai does one of everything, for every budget.

Kia aside, the only other manufacturer with this stretch of motors is Toyota. But Toyota has been slower to get into electric.

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Right, let’s discuss the new Kona Electric pictured here. The old one was fugly. This one isn’t fugly. But it’s still not beautiful.

 Although it has adopted the pixel lights from the Ioniq cars, which is cool but confusing.

It’s also a little bigger than before.

You’ll like the extra boot space. Your kids will like the extra knee room in the back and the flat floor.

Up front, everything is exactly how you’d want it to be. There’s a nice mix of screens and buttons. The seats are squishy. There’s lots of storage for phones and drinks and the usual bits and bobs.

If you are going to be stuck in traffic, this is a nice place to be.

Like Ioniq 5 and 6, you might notice the usual Hyundai badge on the steering wheel has been replaced by four dots – which is Morse code for H.

 Also like Ioniq 5 and 6, there’s a three-pin plug socket in the back. Which is handy for a kettle or an air pump.

And you can charge another EV with your Kona, should they run out of juice in the middle of nowhere.

Clever stuff.

Kona is available in two battery sizes. The 48kWh version at £34,995 and this 65kWh long-range version at £38,595.

 Both have heat pumps, making range much easier to predict in winter.

 But I’d go for the 65kWh for an extra tenner a week on finance.

Not ready to go electric yet?

The 1-litre petrol Kona starts at £25,725. Cheery 120hp and 48mpg.

 You can have one outside your front door from £295 a month.

Like I said, it’s nice to have the choice.

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The i10 is £198 a month.