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Indian Government Prefers Hyundai Kona EV Over Mahindra & Tata
The Indian government prefers Hyundai Kona EV over other EV models available in the country. The governing bodies have already started using the Kona EV and has already placed an initial order with Hyundai Motor India.
This will be the largest electric vehicle (EV) procurement by the state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) in Delhi. The cabinet ministry in Delhi have started using their Kona EV including the Raj Kumar Singh (power and renewable energy minister), and Gurdeep Singh (NTPC chairman and managing director).
Officials confirmed that ministers from NITI Aayog are also keen to use the Kona EV as well. Despite the hefty price tag of Rs 23.71 lakh, the government still prefers Kona EV as it offers more driving range on a single charge, compared to the Tata Tiago and Mahindra e-Verito sedans.
Saurabh Kumar, EESL MD, said "Kona's battery size is almost three times that of these other cars (Tigor and e-Verito). The running cost is just 40 paisa/km. It's a brilliant car in terms of comfort and this is the beauty of EVs."
ESSL had ordered 10,000 cars back in September 2017 with Mahindra and Tata put together. The initial order of 10,000 units will be filled by 6,000 Tata Tigor EVs and 4,000 Mahindra e-Verito models.
The government has received 500 Tiago and 1,000 e-Verito models so far. The EESL now plans to limit the initial order of 10,000 units to 3,000 units by March amid an economic slowdown. This is also because the official using both the sedans confirmed the models to return a low-driving range on a single charge and also have some quality issues as well.
However, the Kona EV through its bigger capacity 39.2kWh battery pack offers a claimed range of 452 kilometres on a single charge. Comparing this to the Tata and Mahindra sedans feature a lower capacity battery pack offering less driving range.
The Hyundai Kona EV is fast charging enabled which can juice up the SUV to 80 percent charge in 60 minutes. The SUV can be charged from 0 to 100 percent through a household wall charger in 6 hours. The SUV is supplied with a 2.8KW charging cable which can juice up the SUV in 19 hours from 0 per cent to 100 per cent.
On the Inside, Hyundai Kona EV comes features an 8-inch floating touchscreen infotainment system with support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Other features include a digital instrument cluster, Interiors finished in leather, steering mounted audio controls, a 10-way power adjustable driver seats and electric sunroof.
The safety net on the electric vehicles consists of six-airbags, ABS with EBD, hill-climb assist and Virtual Engine Sound System generated to ensure pedestrian safety. The Kona EV also features multiple drive modes: ECO/ECO+, Comfort, and Sport with paddle-shifters for adjustable regenerative braking as well.
Thoughts About The Hyundai Kona EV Preferred By Indian Government
Hyundai Kona is certainly a game changer in the Indian EV space. It offers maximum practicality starting with good driving range. However, it is good to see Indian Government promoting the use of electric vehicles and ministers actually using it on a daily basis. The EV segment will soon get a new addition in the form of MG eZS electric SUV.