Hyundai KONA Electric vs Vauxhall Astra

The Hyundai KONA Electric costs £5,005 more than the Vauxhall Astra. For that premium it adds 38 miles more WLTP range, 114 litres more boot space and 45 kW more power. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Vauxhall Astra comes out ahead overall.

The Vauxhall Astra is £5,005 cheaper to buy. The Hyundai KONA Electric is cheaper to charge, roughly £136 a year versus £168 for the Vauxhall Astra, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Vauxhall Astra comes out roughly £4,845 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 191 miles for the Vauxhall Astra - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Hyundai KONA Electric goes roughly 75 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 41 minutes in the Hyundai KONA Electric and 26 in the Vauxhall Astra, so the Vauxhall Astra loses less time at each stop. So the Hyundai KONA Electric stops less often while the Vauxhall Astra 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 35 mm narrower than the Vauxhall Astra. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 575 mm of total clearance for the Hyundai KONA Electric and about 540 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Astra.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 86% battery health for the Hyundai KONA Electric and 84% for the Vauxhall Astra. 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.