Hyundai KONA Electric vs Smart #3

The Hyundai KONA Electric costs £1,040 more than the Smart #3. For that premium it adds 117 miles more WLTP range and 96 litres more boot space. The Smart #3 is not just cheaper - it also offers 49 kW faster peak rapid charging, 40 kW more power and a 2.0s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Hyundai KONA Electric comes out ahead overall.

The Smart #3 is £1,040 cheaper to buy. The Hyundai KONA Electric is cheaper to charge, roughly £136 a year versus £192 for the Smart #3, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Smart #3 comes out roughly £760 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 189 miles for the Smart #3 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Hyundai KONA Electric goes roughly 77 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 41 minutes in the Hyundai KONA Electric and 30 in the Smart #3, so the Smart #3 loses less time at each stop. So the Hyundai KONA Electric stops less often while the Smart #3 stops for less time - pick on which you would rather do.

The two are within 19 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 575 mm of total clearance for the Hyundai KONA Electric and about 556 mm of total clearance for the Smart #3.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 86% battery health for the Hyundai KONA Electric and 84% for the Smart #3. That gives the Hyundai KONA Electric 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. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.