Hyundai KONA Electric vs Kia EV5

The Kia EV5 costs £4,345 more than the Hyundai KONA Electric. For that premium it adds 26 kW faster peak rapid charging. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Hyundai KONA Electric comes out ahead overall.

The Hyundai KONA Electric is £4,345 cheaper to buy. The Hyundai KONA Electric is cheaper to charge, roughly £136 a year versus £184 for the Kia EV5, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Hyundai KONA Electric comes out roughly £4,585 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 266 miles for the Hyundai KONA Electric and 235 miles for the Kia EV5 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Hyundai KONA Electric goes roughly 30 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 41 minutes in the Hyundai KONA Electric and 31 in the Kia EV5, so the Kia EV5 loses less time at each stop. So the Hyundai KONA Electric stops less often while the Kia EV5 stops for less time - pick on which you would rather do.

The Hyundai KONA Electric is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 50 mm narrower than the Kia EV5. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 575 mm of total clearance for the Hyundai KONA Electric and about 525 mm of total clearance for the Kia EV5.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 86% battery health for the Hyundai KONA Electric and 89% for the Kia EV5. That gives the Kia EV5 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.