GAS VS ELECTRIC

WE DRIVE TWO HYUNDAI KONAS, IDENTICAL EXCEPT FOR WHAT'S DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT UNDER THE HOOD. WHICH IS THE BETTER EXPERIENCE?

- CHRISTIAN SEABAUGH

To the average American, electric cars aren’t an option. They don’t work as the main household transportation, and too many folks can’t plug in at home. Forget about long trips; the charging network sucks, and it takes forever to recharge. And aren’t they prohibitively expensive for a car that has so many limitations?

Those arguments, however, are falling apart fast. Even ignoring Tesla’s (expensive) cars and (expansive) Supercharger network, EVs increasingly offer longer ranges and fast charger compatibility.

Have we reached the point that an electric car can work as a family’s only vehicle? And more important, which offers a better driving experience?

Until now, there was no way to perform a direct comparison. Thanks to the Hyundai Kona, though, we can finally make this evaluation happen. For now, it’s the only vehicle in the U.S. to include both traditional gas engines and a long-range electric option, which allows us to control for sheet-metal variations, size and weight differences, and equipment variables.

(Volvo is scheduled to release an electric XC40 late this year, and the Kia Niro is offered as a hybrid and an EV.)

Using a Kona Electric and a Kona 1.6T, we devised a series of tests to see if average Americans could rely on an electric car as their sole mode of transit—and with all things equal, determine which powertrain is more rewarding to drive.

Living Local

For most of us, how a car handles the ins and outs of the weekday commute and weekend errands is the most relevant factor in a new car purchase, so testing director Kim Reynolds and I decided we’d start there. Each of us would spend a week living with each of the Konas, with the aim of figuring out which model (and thus which powertrain) best handles the doldrums of daily driving.