[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by kvish

1. Govt plans to remove road tax for EVs, its bound to happen soon.

In Maharashtra, there is no road tax on EVs (they charge just a nominal 600 rupees), so the Kona price in MH has already factored this in. So the only extra expense over the ex-showroom price is insurance. Assuming 70k for the IDV of 24L, Kona is available for 26L on-road in MH.

[racer_ash]

∆∆ One of the videos in Youtube (Zigwheels) mentions the 39KWh battery take approximately 7hrs to charge on a standard 220V wall socket charger. Fast charger takes abt an hour.

Single charge should consume about 40units of power. Considering an average of Rs.7 per unit, that comes to around INR280.

That aside, the prices were along expected lines. Hyundai has launched the car at pretty much the price they sell it across the globe. Here in Australia, the higher capacity version retails at around AUD59000 ex showroom. That is around 30L INR.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by pseudo_coder

Kona is smaller than Creta

The interior space is very tight for average sized people too, saw the Autocar review on youtube, it is very small. Why would one like to get squeezed inside a car after paying ₹26 lakhs. This car is best suited for short distance trips only.

[superbad]

Seems to me the Kona is ideal for :-
1) Nuclear family with deep pockets as a second family car for intracity, airport & weekend drive runs.
2) Green show piece for corporates & celebrities. Self drive for meetings & shoot.
3) Self drive rental agencies looking for a premium item in their inventory (assuming Hyundai allows it to be registered as such).

The rest of us hopefuls continue to dream on...

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by deehunk

The interior space is very tight for average sized people too, saw the Autocar review on Youtube, it is very small. Why would one like to get squeezed inside a car after paying ₹26 lakhs. This car is best suited for short distance trips only.

The target customers for Hyundai India as on 2019 will be the uber rich who are either environmentally conscious or have a certain public image to portray. Either ways, the 'space crunch' will be least of their problems as this will not be their primary car and they can afford the sub 30L pricing.

In fact, the Indian pricing is really good as the Kona starts at NOK335k in Norway (one of the first countries to adopt electric vehicles on a regular basis) which roughly translates to about INR 27L. Considering the government initiative of providing subsidies to EVs, India should be one of the cheapest markets to buy the Kona!

A good alternative for the urban middle class nuclear families as well who can afford the Octavias, Fortuners, Endeavors etc.

On another note, RIP Prius?

[anjan_c2007]

HMIL has taken a giant leap and has done its duty by launching the electric Kona. Amidst all the hype and hoopla about going green, this launch was bound to happen and Hyundai has done it at the appropriate time. The range of 452 kms in a single charge is OK for city use and is adequate to keep the vehicle powered for a few days. But for long distance driving its a strict no-no unless one makes night halts every 452 kms (at any place be it a jungle, river, no man's land, hamlet, village, town or city) during a very long drive. These days on the good roads, highways and expressways, using fossil fuelled cars one can easily do upto 800 -900 kms or more a day.

The price is the greatest dampener and despite all the 2019-20 budget duty and tax waivers/ concessions the deterring initial investment will restrict sales to the targeted 100 per annum. A car buyer normally examines the cost price and practicality of usage. No buyer would be so GREEN to "save the environment"and sacrifice Rs 26 L (Maharashtra price) to buy a showpiece. It is a fact that HMIL is helpless as regards pricing, which is universal for such a category of motor vehicles as on date.

Another fact is that HMIL service centres like many others do not stock spares adequately for slow selling cars, that sell in lesser numbers. The buyers will have to await for the availiability of spares whenever required and keep the Kona grounded.

The Kona will wait in the queue with the E2O, Prius and maybe others for an appropriate moment, till when it becomes more sought after.

[ece2k2]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

∆∆ One of the videos in Youtube (Zigwheels) mentions the 39KWh battery take approximately 7hrs to charge on a standard 220V wall socket charger. Fast charger takes abt an hour.

According to the Hyundai UK website, it takes 6 hours 10 minutes to completely charge 39KWh battery using "PODPoint Wallbox 7kW". With the "Emergency 3 Pin Connector (ICCB)" which I believe refers to the standard 15A 220V wall socket, it takes 19 hours to charge the battery to 95%. If this is correct, I think we need to have a proper charging infrastructure in place to use the car regularly and a standard wall socket might not cut it.

[sreeharipv]

Kinda over the moon for the first modern EV in India. I can't remember how many times I have made fun of Mahindra on social media for calling themselves EV pioneers. Many times, mine will be the only comment. Its funnier when facebook says I'm a top fan! lol!

In all seriousness, this is the beginning of EV awareness in India. I think there are a lot of people for whom this could be a perfect fit but who stupidly thinks 'who wants a car that takes 19 hours to charge'.

I'm considering getting rid of my Optra Magnum which I bought for 2 lakh and getting in to one of these. Only thing is I'm in Kuala Lumpur and my parents don't drive that much.

[Aditya_Bhp]

Originally Posted by ece2k2

According to the Hyundai UK website, it takes 6 hours 10 minutes to completely charge 39KWh battery using "PODPoint Wallbox 7kW". With the "Emergency 3 Pin Connector (ICCB)" which I believe refers to the standard 15A 220V wall socket, it takes 19 hours to charge the battery to 95%. If this is correct, I think we need to have a proper charging infrastructure in place to use the car regularly and a standard wall socket might not cut it.

7500Watts is the maximum a single phase connection can support. So in order to charge a Kona in 6 hours, we will need a three phase connection.

And if not wrong, it will take approximately 10 units to charge a Kona to run 300kms, that's around Rs.80 for a 300km journey! Never realized power was this cheap!

I do really hope Tata can improve its TigorEV to improve its real range to atleast 200kms at the same price. At the same time, govt should cut road tax and insurance prices so that Tigor can be priced at 11Lakhs on road. I would consider it as good vfm as petrol and diesel compact sedans also sell at the same price.

[giri1.8]

Price seems quite good to my eyes One can enjoy the acceleration without worrying about petrol bills! I know people would say for someone who can afford this car, won't worry about fuel expense, but that is not how our mindset is!

Its easier to save a ton of money and dump it while making a car purchase, rather than spending 1K for a quick short ride (psychological factor). Also income may not be consistent for people who are into business, efficient car will keep them moving even when there is some kind of recession.

[Sankar]

A real (read as - almost practical) ZEV is here in India finally thanks Hyundai for taking this giant leap forward!

Hope all respective state governments roll out attractive road tax schemes (read as - 0 tax for minimum 5 years) for EV's nationally. Apart from loud talks about putting 10lakh electric vehicles on Kerala's roads within the next 3 years i don't see anything that is going to help that cause (like tax exemption as stated above) happening here in my home state.

[rajshenoy]

The other day i was reading about the Nissan Leaf review and the expected pricing of 40 odd lakhs for the Hatchback. Considering that Hyundai has done a pretty neat job of giving us something that looks like a Tucson for the same price.

If i am not wrong, Karnataka has a green policy. so there will be only additional insurance on top of the Ex showroom price.

People seem to prefer SUV form factor and this car does give that.

However, My preference for an EV is a city friendly compact car of the size of sub-4m SUV costing around 15L and doing 200km range. That should sell !!

EDIT:
I realized this car is much compact and more of a creta sized than that of Tucson.

[aim120]

Originally Posted by Aditya_Bhp

And if not wrong, it will take approximately 10 units to charge a Kona to run 300kms, that's around Rs.80 for a 300km journey! Never realized power was this cheap!

The real world range is around 255km and in a congested city like bangalore it can drop to 240km range. So it will take around 50 units of charge for 300km, so Rs 500 bucks (calculated at Rs 10 unit because charging the EV = higher slab rates).

[Vid6639]

Just one query. You guys are doing all these calculations with respect to unit cost but isn't unit cost variable in cities. For example in Bangalore as you consume more units the price goes up considerable in slabs. If you can afford an EV like Kona then you probably have a 3BHK with AC, Fridge, Washing machine and other electronics and most likely already pay highest slab of charges.

A car which needs charging is going to increase this even more and would mean higher per km cost.

I am just thinking this out loud as till the infra is established you will be charging at home.

So in that case how much is the charging cost considering highest slab.

[Aditya_Bhp]

Originally Posted by aim120

The real world range is around 255km and in a congested city like bangalore it can drop to 240km range. So it will take around 50 units of charge for 300km, so Rs 500 bucks (calculated at Rs 10 unit because charging the EV = higher slab rates).

Oops, I forgot to multiply it by the number of hours of charging; ie 7 hours.

Actually in cities, electric cars will give more range as they lose no power while idling, range is lost at a higher rate when you floor the pedal, more often on highways than cities.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

So in that case how much is the charging cost considering highest slab.

You will have to calculate it using the highest possible slab as this is the equivalent of running 4 Air Conditioners in your home for 7 hours. In Kerala, all units will be charged at approximately Rs.8 in the highest slab.

So if we consider that it takes 50 units to charge and travel 250kms, then costs about Rs.1.6 per kilometer, a similar car such as a Creta will cost you Rs.4.1/km(diesel) and Rs6.5/km(petrol). The maintenance costs of electric cars remains unknown. Except the engine, rest of the stuff are similar, so we will have ABS failures, AC compressor failures, Steering rack replacements, etc also, and at 8 years, a major cost will be the batteries. So i guess they will be similar to maintain as well.

In the end, you will save Rs.2.5/km over a diesel and around Rs.4/km over a petrol car. But do not look at the savings, as the downtime for the car is too high, and it is impossible to breakeven the additional cost and justify buying the car for saving money.