Europe: Hyundai Kona Hybrid unveiled

Hyundai has unveiled the hybrid version of the Kona in Europe. The car joins the petrol, diesel and electric variants in the Kona line-up.

On the outside, the Kona hybrid comes with LED headlamps and two different alloy wheel designs. The standard wheel size is 16-inch while the optional wheel size is 18-inch. It also gets hybrid badging on the boot. On the inside, the SUV gets powered front seats, 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and a 4.2-inch instrument cluster. The optional equipment includes wireless smartphone charging, a 10.25-inch touchscreen, head-up display, heated steering wheel, cooled front seats, and heated front and rear seats. The interior also features white and gloss black accents. In addition to this, it is offered in three interior colour packs - Orange, Lime and Red.

The Kona Hybrid is powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine producing 104 BHP and 147 Nm. It also has a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor that produces 43 BHP and 170 Nm. The combined power and torque figures are rated at 139 BHP and 265 Nm respectively. The battery is a 1.56 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery. The powertrain is mated to a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The car comes with an ECO-Driving Assist System (ECO-DAS). It gets a Coasting Guide that works with the navigation system to notify the driver of imminent deceleration. It works between 40 km/h and 160 km/h and aims to reduce fuel consumption and brake usage. ECO-DAS is also equipped with Predictive Energy Management, which manages charging and discharging of the battery in uphill and downhill conditions.