Hyundai Kona Electric now on sale in Malaysia – HSDM’s KLIMS 2018 demo EV going for RM180k

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The Hyundai Kona Electric is now on sale in Malaysia, but this is not our usual new car launch announcement. The car you see in the Facebook ad above is a used car, and one can’t just walk into Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) to buy a new Kona Electric or any EV. Not yet at least.

Advertised by Nicole Yap from HSDM’s sister company and used car division Sime Darby Auto Selection, this Kona Electric is listed as manufactured in 2018 and registered in September last year. The EV has 18,000 km on the clock and they’re asking RM180,800 for it.

UPDATE: The 2021 Kona Electric facelift is confirmed for Malaysia, launch in Q4

Seen this car before? We checked with HSDM and they’ve confirmed that this is the exact unit that they brought in for the Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show (KLIMS) in 2018. After performing its duty as a tech showcase for the brand at KLIMS alongside the Nexo hydrogen fuel cell SUV and i30 N hot hatch, the EV has since been used internally by the company.

Hyundai Kona Electric now on sale in Malaysia – HSDM’s KLIMS 2018 demo EV going for RM180k

According to HSDM, this unit has been driven by its tech team and management as a test for both EV performance/suitability in Malaysia as well as reliability. Range anxiety is a major concern with EVs, and the Hyundai distributor says that the Kona Electric’s mileage per charge has been both satisfactory (they even managed to surpass the claimed range by 60 km) and accurate. The latter is important because range fluctuations are not good for building trust in your EV.

Launched in February 2018, the Kona Electric started off in the European market, like the compact B-SUV range that it’s a part of. Still recognisable as a Kona, the EV is characterised by a closed grille and a unique centre console sans gear lever. It was launched with two battery options – 39.2 kWh and 64 kWh, delivering WLTP driving range of 312 km and 482 km on a full charge, respectively.

The longer range version has 204 PS over the base car’s 135 PS, but both have the same 395 Nm of torque and 167 km/h top speed. The 0-100 km/h sprint is dispatched in 7.6 seconds for the 64 kWh and 9.3 seconds for the 39.2 kWh version.

Charging the lithium-ion polymer battery up to 80% takes about 54 minutes using a 100 kW DC (CCS) fast charger. With the 7.2 kW on-board-charger, charging with AC (Type 2) takes nine hours 40 minutes for the bigger battery pack and six hours 10 minutes for the base car.

HSDM’s demo car is the 64 kWh version and the standard charging cable is included (see the boot pic). Other fast charging paraphernalia can be ordered via the company. The Hyundai distributor confirmed to paultan.org that it will be extending full after sales support to the buyer of this Kona Electric. For those who are interested in EVs but find the new premium offerings too expensive, surely over 450 km of electric range for RM180k – with factory support – is a decent deal? What do you think of this one-of-a-kind catch?

The Kona Electric’s stats were very impressive for an affordable mass market EV back in 2018, and is still very good today (more than double the range of a 2021 MINI Cooper SE). It has been a success for Hyundai, with 100,000 units sold worldwide in just over two years from its debut.

Late last year, Hyundai gave the Kona range a facelift (launched in Malaysia this year), and the Electric was similarly refreshed. No big changes to the tech bits, but tyre improvements have raised WLTP range slightly for the 64 kWh to 484 km (+2). Click on the link for the full story on the Kona Electric FL, or check out the gallery attached below.

HSDM is a very active company these days and has been quick in launching the Kona facelift, now with a sporty N Line range topper. Will the latest 2021 Kona Electric join the family as HSDM’s first full electric offering? Stay tuned.

By the way, if you’re wondering or lamenting why are all the EVs in Malaysia premium and expensive, leaving nothing for Mr. Average Joe, here’s a full explainer.

GALLERY: 2018 Hyundai Kona Electric at KLIMS

GALLERY: 2021 Hyundai Kona Electric facelift

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • No one gonna pay 180k for this little fella.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 3
  • Hong Yee Hong on Sep 20, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    Wa… So expensive ar???

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
  • drMpower on Sep 20, 2021 at 3:51 pm

    babushka my love
    a 2 year old EV, and lower specced than what is now offered which by the way brand new and cost about 10k MYR less, is very expensive

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
  • Neutral on Sep 20, 2021 at 4:18 pm

    EV sounds advanced n futuristic. But the cost of charging an EV is not cheap in Malaysia specially to those whose household electricity consumption exceed 600 or even 900 unit per month. Could Paultan’s team do a research on the cost of charging an EV i.e. roughly how much does it cost to run 100 km using pure electric power.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 0
  • One thing forsure the interior do not look like a 180k car. Yeah you can try blaming this on our EV policy but hang on, if I can pay 180k I can easily topup 30k more and get that 210k MINI SE EV. The interior is miles better by far.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • BTW this is 3yo used car prices, cannot imagine how much is the asking price for a brand new unit.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • RM180k for a 3 yr old car? Really ka? Sot sot

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • ridiculous price

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Sparcov on Sep 21, 2021 at 8:58 am

    Electric car in Malaysia still need a long time to mature.

    Buying the car is expensive, maintenance cost is rather low but high cost of repair due to mechatronics design.

    Infrastructure support is very important to determine the viability of the EV car. The saving you gain will not be able to offset the depreciation value, cost of repair and cost of ownership.

    If the hybrid car unable to gain traction in Malaysia, EV will need more effort.

    Unless, the government suddenly impose emission law, environmental protection, C02 incentive, blah blah blah similar to EU country policy, perhaps the consumer have no choice but to look for EV car. Until then, car is still 2nd biggest expenditure after property.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Ben Yap on Sep 21, 2021 at 9:58 am

    so expensive, insufficient charging stations, too long charging time and low resale value for EV cars.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 2
  • Good luck!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Tok Yie on Sep 22, 2021 at 3:30 pm

    Just keep it. My kancil even faster then that.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Trolol on Oct 29, 2021 at 5:28 pm

    Go for luxury merc or bmw hybrid certified pre owned then spend RM30-50k for schedule maintenance,petrol,toll,check in all malaysia 5star hotel.malaysian never pay over 100k for used korea/japan car unless her name is Ms Vellfire or Madam Alphard

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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