Hyundai calls out Elon Musk and Tesla in bold new Kona Electric advert
HYUNDAI has taken a swipe at Elon Musk and his electric car manufacturer Tesla with a promotional billboard for the new Kona Electric EV.
Hyundai Kona EV advert takes swipe at Tesla
Hyundai has issued a strong statement to Tesla with the promotional material for the new Kona Electric.
Last month Hyundai pulled the wraps of the all-new electrified version of the Kona.
It was an impressive proposition from the South Korean carmaker boasting a handsome set of specs.
The majority of EVs that come to the market are brandished with phrases such as Tesla killer, just because they are the ones to beat.
Kona EV could, however, put enough pressure on Tesla to be a problem or at least provide some healthy competition.
Hyundai’s latest billboard advertisement suggests that they think so too.
Next to a picture of the new electric vehicle, Ioniq and their new Nexo hydrogen cars is the words ‘Your turn, Elon’, suggesting that the Kona EV is the car to beat.
This is followed up underneath by the words “The first electric compact SUV is here.”
The billboard was spotted in Geneva
Kona EV will likely be a challenger to the upcoming Model Y, which is shaping up to be a smaller Model X, based on the same platform as the Model 3.
The compact SUV packs an impressive range of up to 292 miles on a single charge from its 64kWh battery.
There is also a smaller version of the car that produces 186-miles on a single charge from a 39.2kWh battery pack
Its styling is based on the internal combustion engine (ICE) version but the front grille has been replaced and the EV is sports a few other motifs that are semi-typical of an electric car.
The all-electric Kona produces 292 miles of range on a single charge
Sprint times for the two cars are 7.6-sec 0 to 62 mph for the long range version vs 9.3-sec for the standard battery pack.
The former is powered by a 150kWh motor while the latter a 99kWh and both cars produce 395Nm of torque.
What the Kona EV signals is that there is soon to be great competition in the EV world.
For so long Tesla has ruled the roost but now cars such as the Kona EV and Jaguar I-Pace could be disruptive and see even more people switch to electric.