Hyundai Kona Electric
Hacker ApprovedRanked 12 of 40 electric cars by recommenders
People like its build quality, interior, and physical buttons, and find it a decent used buy. Common caveat: gearbox and motor bearing problems that are tricky to fix.
People like its build quality, interior, and physical buttons, and find it a decent used buy. Common caveat: gearbox and motor bearing problems that are tricky to fix.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 78%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 3 years
Median of the 5 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Physical buttons and controls
“There are physical controls for the temperature and volume, and the door handles aren't stupid.”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Toyota is taking the Corolla electric” “Hyundai kona actually has an insane amount of physical buttons, around 50”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “All Cars Sold in the EU Now Require a Camera Aimed at Your Face” “Hyundai EVs have physical buttons for everything important.”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Alberta Startup Sells No-Tech Tractors for Half Price” Good value as a used car
“considering you can buy newish used ones for under 15k, its not a bad deal if it fits your needs”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Kona EV Hacking” “You can get a used Hyundai Kona EV from Hyundai for under £15k.”
Comment from 28 Sep 2026 in “EV Sales Are Booming in Europe with Gasoline at $10 a Gallon” “A big step up from my old Ford fiesta, just look for the deals”
Comment from 27 Sep 2026 in “EV Sales Are Booming in Europe with Gasoline at $10 a Gallon” Enjoyed by repeat EV owners
“I have had two EVs in the last three years - a Kona and an IONIQ 5. I have greatly enjoyed them both.”
Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “How BYD Got EV Chargers to Work Almost as Fast as Gas Pumps” “I have greatly enjoyed them both”
Comment from 21 Mar 2026 in “How BYD Got EV Chargers to Work Almost as Fast as Gas Pumps” Feels like a great everyday EV
“Great car and great EV but you could easily mistake it for the gas version if you weren't paying attention.”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “UK: Two millionth electric car registered as market rebounds strongly” “those were perfectly reasonable cars for the vast majority of actual needs”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Toyota is taking the Corolla electric”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Gearbox and motor bearing problems
“the gearbox and motor bearings issue can be tricky to fix”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Kona EV Hacking” “you wanna search about kona's gearbox and iccu's beforehand.”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive” “Older ones (Kona) has reduction gear with some design flaw”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Hyundai Paywalls Brake Pads replacement on Ioniq 5 N” Several button presses to start
“Three buttons just to start the car and I need to lock it myself.”
Comment from 19 Jun 2026 in “Volkswagen started blocking GrapheneOS users” “3 button presses just to start driving”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Toyota is taking the Corolla electric”
Other electric cars people recommend
The four most recommended other electric cars, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla vehicles | 209 | 411 | 34% | 13 | 6 yrs24 owners | — |
| BYD electric cars | 157 | 53 | 75% | 12 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| Ferrari Luce | 140 | 319 | 31% | 7 | — | — |
| Tesla Model 3 | 128 | 115 | 53% | 13 | 6 yrs32 owners | — |
| Hyundai Kona ElectricThis page | 18 | 5 | 78% | 8 | 3 yrs5 owners | Approved |
What people said
28 of the 31 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“everything I need works without the app”
“You can get a used Hyundai Kona EV from Hyundai for under £15k.”
“A big step up from my old Ford fiesta, just look for the deals”
“3 button presses just to start driving”
“those were perfectly reasonable cars for the vast majority of actual needs”
“There are physical controls for the temperature and volume, and the door handles aren't stupid.”
“Hyundai Kona is on my list for that reason”
“I swear at that piece of shit every day.”
“Hyundai kona actually has an insane amount of physical buttons, around 50”
“Three buttons just to start the car and I need to lock it myself.”
“may fail in a few years (like in the Kona Electric or Škoda Enyaq)”
“ticks most, maybe even all, of them”
“Great car and great EV but you could easily mistake it for the gas version if you weren't paying attention.”
“the absence of piano black, were some key determining factors for me to buy the new Hyundai Kona”
“Hyundai EVs have physical buttons for everything important.”
“The battery cannot be upgraded.”
“I have had two EVs in the last three years - a Kona and an IONIQ 5. I have greatly enjoyed them both.”
“I have greatly enjoyed them both”
“it's stealing your gasoline, and making it staler”
“It also came in handy for a bad road trip”
“It's just so well built and the interior is also something to behold”
“the gearbox and motor bearings issue can be tricky to fix”
“They're also very slow and the AC makes you one of dem homos.”
“considering you can buy newish used ones for under 15k, its not a bad deal if it fits your needs”
“The place I've found it makes a huge difference is stop and go or near stop and go traffic.”
“it's power is totally and utterly stupid”
“you wanna search about kona's gearbox and iccu's beforehand.”
“Older ones (Kona) has reduction gear with some design flaw”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.