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Budget-minded Hyundai Kona Standard Range twins drop price, power and range

 CALLUM HUNTER

HYUNDAI Motor Company Australia (HMCA) has doubled the size of its local Kona electric portfolio with the addition of two new ‘Standard Range’ variants to complement what are now known as the ‘Extended Range’ duo.

With prices now starting from $54,500 plus on-road costs for the Standard Range Elite and $58,000 for the Highlander, the Kona Electric’s entry price has come down $7500, making the range, as Hyundai puts it, “more accessible than ever”.

Consistent with the lower price and new nomenclature, headline fi gures of the Kona Electric Standard Range have been reduced compared to Extended Range variants, which were previously known as just Kona Electric.

Instead of the familiar 64kWh battery, 150kW/395Nm outputs and 484km claimed range, the Standard Range variants are powered by a 39.2kWh batt ery and a 100kW/395Nm electric motor, resulting in a reduced range of up to 305km, according to Hyundai.

As a bonus, HMCA has also reduced the pricing of Extended Range variants by $1500 for the Elite and $2000 for the Highlander to now start from $60,500 and $64,000 respectively.

HMCA chief executive offi cer Jun Heo said this is just one of the ways the brand is “leading Australia’s charge towards a greener transport future”.

“Th e new Kona Electric Standard Range gives customers zero-emissions electric motoring in an att ractive, sporty and practical small SUV, and at more accessible price,” He said.

Leadership for eco cars

“It is Hyundai’s intention to establish leadership for eco cars in Australia. We already have the most diverse range of electrifi ed vehicles including Kona Electric, NEXO our hydrogen-powered SUV, and the soon to launch game-changing Ioniq 5.”

While the Standard Range Konas may feature lesser mechanicals to their more expensive counterparts, no features have been omitt ed from the equipment list.

For the Elite grade, this means both the Standard and Extended Range versions come with 17-inch alloy wheels, keyless entry, a 10.25-inch digital cockpit and infotainment system, eight-speaker Harman/Kardon audio system, wireless phone charging, satellite navigation, climate control, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and leather appointed upholstery, among other features.

As before, the Highlander nameplate ups the ante with a head-up display, LED head- and tail-lights, glass sunroof, ambient lighting, heated and ventilated front seats with power adjustment, a heated steering wheel and an auto-dimming rearview mirror.

Standard safety tech on all Kona Electrics is accounted for by the SmartSense suite, comprising of blind-spot collision-avoidance assist, driver att ention warning, forward collision-avoidance assist, lane following assist, lane-keeping assist, rear cross-traffi c collision avoidance assist, rear occupant alert, safe exit warning and adaptive cruise control.

HMCA launched its facelift ed Kona Electric earlier this year and nudged the price up accordingly given the extra standard gear included and the 35km range improvement.

So far in 2021, the brand has sold 8858 Konas (petrol and EV) as of July 31, accounting for 11.5 per cent of the sub$40,000 compact SUV segment.

2022 Hyundai Kona Electric pricing*

Standard Range Elite (a) $54,500 Standard Range Highlander (a) $58,000 Extended Range Elite (a) $60,500 Extended Range Highlander (a) $64,000 *Excludes on-road costs

All-new Mitsubishi Outlander arrives in November, PHEVs to follow early next year

 CALLUM HUNTER

MITSUBISHI Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) has announced the pricing and specification highlights of its new-generation Outlander SUV ahead of its local showroom arrival in November, bearing a starting price of $34,490 plus on-road costs.

Riding on a new platform, fl aunting a radical new look and powered by a new engine, the MY22 Outlander will following its predecessor’s tyre tracks and be off ered in both fi ve- and seven-seat guises, each with the option of all-wheel drive.

Nine variants will be on off er to begin with before the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) versions touch down early next year.

Th e nine variants are spread across fi ve trim levels, starting with the ES and stretching up to the fl agship Exceed Tourer ($49,990), comprising two fi ve-seaters, fi ve AWDs and a septuplet of seven-seaters.

All-wheel-drive versions carry a $2500 premium over the two-wheel drives, with all variants sharing the same 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, developing 135kW/245Nm.

Irrespective of the drive type, power is sent to the road via a continuously variable transmission (CVT) with eight pre-determined ratios on hand for when drivers want to take matt ers into their own hands via the paddle-shift ers.

Fuel economy across the range varies from 7.5L/100km in the two-wheel-drive ES up to 8.1L/100km in the Exceed and Exceed Touring on the ADR cycle.

Riding on 18-inch alloy wheels as standard, the ES trim level comes with fabric upholstery, a 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 7.0-inch TFT driver’s display, dual-zone climate control, fi ve or six drive modes (FWD vs AWD), reversing camera, hill descent control, adaptive cruise control and an electric park brake with auto hold function.

Stepping up to the bett er-equipped LS adds silver bumper garnishes, rear prvacy glass, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, keyless entry, wireless phone charging, powered tailgate, auto-diming rearview mirror, automatic headlamps, LED fog lamps, rain sensing wipers and heated wing mirrors.

Went several steps further

Building on everything mentioned previously, the Aspire roll on 20-inch alloys and features Microsuede/synthetic leather upholstery, powered driver’s seat adjustment, heated front seats, a 12.3” digital instrument cluster, head-up display, adaptive self-levelling headlights with and a 360-degree camera.

Towards the top of the tree, the Exceed goes several steps further with leather upholstery, memory function for both front seats, a panoramic sunroof, a Bose premium sound system, tri-zone climate control, integrated rear sun shades and colour-coded exterior front, side and rear lower garnishes.

Th e Exceed Tourer’s kit list reads much the same as the Exceed, but adds a two-tone exterior body colour, two-tone high-grade leather upholstery and massaging front seats.

Describing the new Outlander as “the best-equipped vehicle the company has ever sold in Australia”, MMAL said it was “was craft ed under the design language of ‘I-Fu-Do-Do’, which means ‘authentic and majestic’ in Japanese”.

“Mitsubishi’s all-new fl agship boasts a newly developed platform and powertrain, bold and distinctive exterior styling and a refi ned and serene interior with high-end fi nishes and thoughtful engineering touches throughout,” a local spokesperson said.

“Outlander also features more standard driver connectivity and driver assistance features and a re-engineered, upgraded version of the brand’s signature Super Allwheel Control (S-AWC) all-wheel drive system.”

In addition to the extra surety of the allwheel-drive system – on some variants – all Outlanders come with the latest suite of airbags and driver assist systems including driver att ention alert, forward collision mitigation with cyclist detection and junction assist, blind spot warning with brake assist, emergency lane change alert with brake assist, trailer stability assist, lane departure warning and lane departure prevention with more features added at each trim level.

A few extra safety gismos are added to the mix on the LS, including rear automatic emergency braking and rear cross-traffi c alert, which are also included as standard on the higher grades.

Despite being a bit long in the tooth now, the current Outlander has continued to fi nd favour with new SUV buyers, accounting for 8.9 per cent of the sub$60,000 mid-sized segment with 8264 sales so far this year ending July 31.

2022 Mitsubishi Outlander pricing*

ES 5-seater (a) $34,490 ES 5-seater AWD (a) $36,990 ES 7-seater (a) $35,490 LS 7-seater (a) $37,990 LS 7-seater AWD (a) $40,490 Aspire 7-seater (a) $41,490 Aspire 7-searer AWD (a) $43,990 Exceed 7-seater AWD (a) $47,990 Exceed Tourer 7-seater AWD (a) $49,990 *Excludes on-road pricing