Hyundai’s new electric variant of their crossover, the Kona Electric, is on the way. Although it is still listed as a future model on their website, Hyundai has noted that it should arrive this Fall 2018. There is a lot of buzz about Hyundai's Kona Electric after it was unveiled to the global markets previously this year.

The first range estimates for the Kona Electric were up to 292 miles, but Hyundai has taken a more conservative estimate of 250 miles. The numbers are now in, and the EPA has finally released their official figures for the 2019 Kona Electric.

The EPA has confirmed that the Kona Electric will be able to drive 258 miles on a single charge. This knocks out the Chevy Bolt (at 238 miles), the Nissan Leaf (151 miles) and the much talked about the base edition of the Tesla Model 3 (220 miles). The MPGe stats for Hyundai’s Kona Electric are at 132 miles in the city, 108 on the highway, and 120 combined. At the moment, Tesla’s Model 3 has a bit better MPGe stats. The Model 3 runs 131 MPGe in the city, 120 on the highway, and 126 combined. It also has a 310-mile range. Those figures look like steep competition for the Kona Electric, but Tesla has no built the standard $35,000 Model 3 yet, so there are no EPA figures to compare with the Kona Electric accurately.

It is a race against time, of who can get their electric car out first. We know the price of the Tesla, but it has not reached production. We know that Hyundai will have the Kona Electric out very soon, but we do not know the price yet. If Hyundai is able to get the costs down enough to price it near Tesla’s promise of a $35,000 electric car, the Model 3, Hyundai’s Kona Electric could take over the market. Right now, the cheapest Model 3 is about $49,000. Whether Tesla can get the price down and maintain a range of over 200 miles is still up for debate.

Tags: Electric Cars,  Specs,  Technology