Regardless of powertrain, 2024 Hyundai Kona benefits from EV-first design plan

As Hyundai was starting design work on the new 2024 Kona in March 2020, the company decided to focus on making the youth-oriented SUV's design work for the EV version first, with the idea that, later on, the ICE and hybrid powertrains could be adapted to fit.

“Normally, you look at ICE and you have an EV version,” said Kevin Kang, senior design manager for Hyundai Design North America. “The EV design is kind of an afterthought, but for the Kona, we decided to design it first as an EV model, and that really let us break free from the norm.”