The second-generation Hyundai Kona, launched in 2023, is a subcompact SUV built around a shared body that hosts three separate powertrains: petrol, hybrid and battery-electric. It measures 4,355 mm long, 1,825 mm wide and 1,575 mm tall, larger than the first-generation Kona in every dimension, and Hyundai builds it in South Korea for export alongside local production for other markets it sells in.
The petrol range opens with a turbocharged 1.0-litre three-cylinder making 118 hp, paired with a manual or seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and front-wheel drive. A 1.6-litre turbo four with 195 hp tops the petrol lineup on the N Line trim, which today is a styling package rather than the performance suspension and tuning the previous Kona N carried; Hyundai dropped the Kona N nameplate itself for this generation and has not confirmed a successor. The 1.6-litre full hybrid pairs the same displacement petrol engine with an electric motor for a combined 136 hp and 265 Nm, running through a six-speed automatic.
The Kona Electric shares its exterior with the petrol and hybrid versions and, unusually, was the version Hyundai engineered first: all three powertrains sit on the shared K3 platform, which Hyundai built to flex between a combustion engine, a hybrid pack and the EV’s larger battery rather than putting the Electric on a separate dedicated-EV chassis like the Ioniq 5’s E-GMP. The Standard Range version uses a 48.4 kWh battery for up to 377 km WLTP and 154 hp, while the Long Range 65.4 kWh battery raises output to 215 hp and WLTP range to 513 km. Both are front-wheel drive only; Hyundai does not offer all-wheel drive on the current Kona Electric.
UK pricing runs from GBP 27,270 ($34,600) for the entry 1.0 T-GDI petrol, GBP 31,440 ($39,900) for the hybrid, and GBP 34,995 (~$44,400) for the Kona Electric Standard Range, with prices rising through higher trims from there. Not every powertrain reaches every market: the hybrid is sold in Europe and South Korea but not the US, where Hyundai offers the Kona only as petrol or Kona Electric; as of September 2026, Hyundai has not announced a US hybrid Kona.
