At first glance the all-new Hyundai Kona Electric bares a strong family resemblance to the brand’s Ioniq 5 and 6 models, so much so it had us wondering why the company didn’t just call it the Ioniq 4.
There’s actually a very good reason why the Kona remains and the Ioniq 4 nameplate lays dormant (for now). Put simply, the world isn’t ready to make a wholesale switch to electric cars and it’s a reminder that despite headline grabbing events like Europe’s banning of internal combustion cars in 2035, petrol power is here to stay for a time yet.
This is particularly true for Australia, a market that is embracing electric cars at a record rate but still make up only six per cent of all vehicles sold. But Australia isn’t alone and there are other markets around the world that drove Hyundai to continue offering the Kona with a petrol engine, hybrid powertrain and the all-electric option.
Asked why Hyundai decided to stick with the Kona nameplate and multiple powertrain options, Simon Park, Head of EV Strategy Business Division for Hyundai, explained the key differences and reason for the choices the company made.
“The Kona platform, as you saw in the presentation, is a universal platform, Ioniq 5 is e-GMP platform,” Park said.
“A global modular architecture is applied to Ioniq but Kona doesn’t have that so it can embrace all the powertrains for ICE, hybrid and EV. A universal and versatile platform has been developed for Kona. If Ioniq 5 was designed for ICE and hybrid I think that platform would be very different. For example, the powertrain would be adapted inside the engine [bay] so the front overhangs would be bigger and that can be a drawback for the Ioniq 5 platform.”
Sales of electric cars make up only six per cent of all vehicles sold in Australia.But he also admitted there was another major driving factor – so many markets around the world, they buy a significant amount of cars, are simply not ready for an all-electric line-up for cars.
“Considering the Indian, Asian and Latin American markets, in those markets electrification is quite slow so we needed to embrace those markets as well,” Park said.
The A.C.T. Government may have announced a ban on internal combustion by 2035 and other state governments have begun incentivising electric vehicles, but Australia – like large parts of Asian and South America – will still need internal combustion vehicles for the foreseeable future.
Which is why for all the car companies committing to an all-electric future, others, such as Hyundai and Ford, are taking a longer-term approach that is shaping the cars we buy today.
Keyword: The world isn't ready to go all-electric yet: Why there will be another Hyundai Kona Electric instead of launching a Hyundai Ioniq 4