Kona And i3 side by side pics.

Here are some pics today of the Kona, I went to Michael Lyng motors in Carlow today to have a look.

I sat inside, it's not bad but plenty of nasty cheap plastic, it's quiet dreary looking to be honest. I would like to hope the more expensive EV version looks a lot better inside.

The plastic wheel arches look much worse than in the pics, believe me, really bad decision to have such ugly plastic it does nothing for the car at all.

Space wise, well tall people won't be too happy, i3 is a lot more spacious up front the kona being a bit wider, i3 has a very roomy feel, much the same head room but tall people will not like it as they're be looking out the sun visor, My partner's Dad for instance wouldn't be able to drive it where he can comfortably see out in the i3 as it's windscreen isn't nearly on top of you as int he Kona he's be looking through the sun visor in the Kona....

The Boot isn't that big, larger than the i3 , the i30 has a much larger boot.

Rear leg room is ok but then again I have short legs but tall torso.





The i3 doesn't have the overhang that the kona does because the kona drivetrain is all up front so BMW can utilise a lot more of that space. Notice the marks around the i3 front wheel arch and headlight ? my 2 year old decided it was a blackboard, luckily for him it was only chalk ! :-)













Kona Boot



i30 Boot



i3 Boot



i3 interior, notice the room up front around the dash, it makes a big difference, it's a lot less claustrophobic.

Matt Simis

I couldn't convince my parents on the i3 allegedly due to boot space. The Kona does look bigger there though not by much.
Did you drive the Kona?

Boot space is tight alright but we still manage to take the 4 of us away for a weekend without issue buggy and all. Up front under the dash you have a surprising amount of space due to the lack of center tunnel and can fit a decent sized bag.

The test Kona was out.

The Kona is larger but not by much and especially up front the I3 is a lot roomier with the Kona being slightly wider , you can see in the pics how short the dash is in the Kona v I3 and this really makes the I3 feel a lot larger than it is, the Kona has the larger overhang at the front to house the motor and electronics etc.

But if it’s the larger boot you need the Kona is the winner as the pics show but it’s a lot smaller than the i30 boot.

The interior is definitely deeary and disappointing, I had hoped for better but this could have been the very basic trim but the 3 of them they had looked the same.

Perhaps the ev version will have a nicer interior for 35 k , I would surely hope so.

liamog

Probably worth mentioning that the Kona electric has a different cockpit than the ICE version.

The car size is similar enough but the interior is different.


https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/news/gallery/hyundai-kona-electric-debuts-in-new-york-promises-250-mile-range_17.jpg

unkel

Lots of bits from Ioniq BEV in there. Surprised about the round steering wheel though.

@Mad_Lad - your i3is a good colour combo alright. Makes the looks a lot more bearable.

Thanks Liamog for the pic of the EV version, that looks really horrid all that grey and cheap nasty plastic, perhaps a darker version would be better.

Am I being too harsh or am I just expecting a bit better from a 35 K car ? I suppose at the cost some things have to suffer, the performance of the larger battery version will be good + the larger battery , some stuff dragged over from the ioniq but I don't mind that.

Ev version interior.



I think the Ioniq looks better.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Lots of bits from Ioniq BEV in there. Surprised about the round steering wheel though.

@Mad_Lad - your i3is a good colour combo alright. Makes the looks a lot more bearable.

I think the Ioniq looks better to be honest.

The plastic around the back windows I forgot about , really all that plastic on the exterior looks just plain ridiculous, that was fine int he 00's but not today.

I don't mind the look of the i3 to be honest, the rotten plastic on the Kona is a real turn off , when you see it you will know what I'm talking about.

I3 is just lovely inside with teh right trim, not everyone's taste but i got a lot more people coming up to me in the last 5 months than I did in 3 years in the leaf, most people love the interior.

DrPhilG

Different tastes. I don't see anything wrong with the Kona interior. It's better than the old Leaf and the new one, plus I personally found the i3 horribly cheap looking inside. That odd wood panelling dash reminded me of cheap laminate floors.

KCross

Deleted User wrote: »

... really all that plastic on the exterior looks just plain ridiculous, that was fine int he 00's but not today.

I think it depends on the colour Kona you pick. If you pick one where the plastic arches blend in with the metal paint colour its not as bad.


If you pick red with black plastic arches it looks terrible.

unkel

Deleted User wrote: »

Am I being too harsh or am I just expecting a bit better from a 35 K car ?

Deleted User wrote: »

the rotten plastic on the Kona is a real turn off

€35k is based on what? I'd expect the price of the long range 64kWh version with a range of close to 500km (similar to Tesla Model 3) to be around €32k and the normal version about €28k

And yes for someone used to budget cars from the far east like Nissans, Toyotas and Hyundais, the interior looks fine. If you have owned Mercedes or BMW cars, it looks cheap. I had to get over that myself in getting Ioniq. i3 is the only real premium interior EV for now, enjoy it

I enjoy the i3 alright, you should take one for a proper test drive.

KCross

KCross wrote: »

I think it depends on the colour Kona you pick. If you pick one where the plastic arches blend in with the metal paint colour its not as bad.


If you pick red with black plastic arches it looks terrible.

I didn't like the plastic bumper on the ioniq regardless of the colour. But I suppose there are people who don't care but at least ave an option to have them painted ff, it's really ridiculous to be honest.

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

Different tastes. I don't see anything wrong with the Kona interior. It's better than the old Leaf and the new one, plus I personally found the i3 horribly cheap looking inside. That odd wood panelling dash reminded me of cheap laminate floors.

I remember you saying the interior of the leaf wasn't great, shocking if true, you wouldn't mind a gen I but at least a gen II should be a bit better.

i3 is definitely not to everyone's taste but they are nice in high spec. Most people that see it love it.

I'd definitely not call the inside of the i3 cheap in high spec.