Hyundai Kona beats rivals to become govt officials' EV choice : Report

Under the Union government's electric vehicle (EV) procurement programme, initial orders have been placed with Hyundai Motor Co. for its electric sport-utility vehicle, Kona, reported Livemint.

Raj Kumar Singh, the Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy,  as well as Gurdeep Singh, the NTPC managing director and chairman, is known to be using the e-Kona.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Priced at a little under Rs 24 lakh, the compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) has seen cumulative bookings since its launch in July.

Also read: Hyundai Kona all sold out in India for 2019 despite Rs 24 lakh price tag

Kona is beating the demand for its competitors, Tata Motors Ltd’s and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd’s EVs which come at a much lower price tag. Mahindra with the e-Verito and Tata Motors with the e-Tigor are the only two other fully-electric cars available on sale in India. The report suggests that top government officials refuse to use these cars by the competition, citing low mileage.

Therefore, despite its steep price (it is the costliest Hyundai on sale in India), the demand for the Kona has been unwavering with government officials. Officials at NITI Aayog are also keen on using Kona.

The government's energy company, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), have been facing issues of slow demand and low quality in the EV sector. EESL placed an order for 10,000 cars in September 2017 but would limit the final order to 3,000 cars only.

"There is a wrong communication floating about Kona EV orders in India. We would like to clarify that Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has received more than 300 orders across the country out of which more than 150 (EVs) already delivered to all the customers," the company spokesperson added.

The report has been updated after a response from Hyundai Motor India Limited