Hyundai Kona EV

Next month India will get its first electric SUV and we’ve already driven it in South Korea

- Seoul

IS INDIA READY FOR ELECTRIC vehicles? It is a question I fired off on social media before getting behind the wheel of the Hyundai Kona EV and by the time we got to our coffee stop I had a ton of responses — most saying yes! Let’s face it, climate change is all too real. This summer has been the hottest I can remember. The lakes are dry, the fields are parched. The monsoons started not in the gentle manner they usually do, but with a whipping cyclone. And even though cars aren’t the biggest polluters, not by a long shot, their exponential increase on the road is the most visible sign of the change we are experiencing — and the reason why cars are the favourite punching bag for politicians and greenies. The automotive industry, though, is responding. Mahindra and Tata already have electric cars. Maruti Suzuki is testing an electric WagonR for imminent launch while heavily investing with Toshiba in a huge battery plant. Audi is bringing the e-tron to India and Jaguar will bring the I-Pace here next year. And next month, you will be able to buy an electric Hyundai.

The Kona EV will not only be Hyundai’s first electric vehicle but the first electric SUV in India. In fact Hyundai had decided to bring the Ioniq electric car that they showcased at the Auto Expo to India, but the Kona EV is a more sensible option for an SUV-obsessed country. And the Kona EV runs on a platform designed with electric propulsion in mind, unlike the Ioniq EV that I switched to after driving the Kona and which, I discovered, was rather dreary to drive.