Page 77 - Motor Trend (May 2020)

2019 Hyundai Kona

Service life:
5 mo/5,491 miles • Avg Fuel Econ: 23.6 mpg

“As long as you’re not moving to a new home every
few months or running a furniture delivery service
from your garage, the Kona offers versatile space in
a small package.” Jesse Bishop

Avg CO2 0.82 lb/mi Energy cons 140 kW-hr/100 mi Unresolved
problems None Maintenance cost $0 Normal-wear cost $0
Base price $29,880 As-tested $30,005 EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ
26/29/27 mpg Real MPG 25.3/36.3/29.2 mpg

yundai says the Kona SUV CR-V outclassed my 2019 Hyundai
H is “smart on space.” In prior Kona. No surprise there; it has almost 60
pdates, we’ve confirmed it has percent more total cargo volume, albeit
u
a surprising amount of versatility for its without a flat load floor. Small, smart
size. Recently, though, my wife and I put packaging is often better than simply
it through its toughest test: moving an big. But when you just have to get things
entire apartment. moved as quickly as possible, size does
When we signed a lease on a new matter. Not that I would expect anyone
home only 1.5 miles away from our to buy a Kona for regular use as a moving
current apartment, we thought it would vehicle, but if, say, you need something
be a good idea to just move all our that can pull double duty as personal
stuff ourselves and not rent a moving city transportation and a delivery vehicle
van. The Kona should be able to handle for your furniture restoration side hustle,
almost everything we have except the you’d be wise to look at other options.
mattress, right? The back seats fold flat, One more point in the Kona’s favor,
creating an impressive 45.8 cubic feet of against both the old CR-V and the new
cargo space, and on visual inspection, it Ram 1500 (admittedly a competitive
appeared the cargo opening was large set no one will ever shop): its backup
enough to accommodate most things. camera. When you’re packing boxes to
At first, I thought that initial assump- the roof, you’re going to have quite a few
tion would prove correct. We had a few blind spots. All new cars sold in the U.S.
larger pieces of furniture that would are required to have backup cameras,
require a truck—our long-term Ram 1500 but all cameras are not created equal.
handled that, though an actual moving When blind creeping out of a driveway,
van would’ve been more convenient—but a camera with a wide view gives you a
for smaller furniture and boxes, the Kona bit more time to hit the brakes if a car is
seemed sufficient. But as we transported coming up in your box-filled blind spot.
load after load, we realized the stacks of I found the Kona’s camera worked
stuff in the old apartment didn’t seem to better in this regard than the Ram’s,
be getting much smaller. though that likely depends on the exact
After a few days of watching the pile nature of your load and the specific blind
dwindle slower than desired, we realized spots you’re navigating. My wife’s CR-V,
the Kona’s limitations. Sure, it’s smart on the other hand, predates manda-
on space—for single trips. But when you tory cameras by a decade. We have
have a lot to move, it doesn’t matter how an aftermarket unit from Pioneer that
smartly 45.8 cubic feet are packaged. generally gets the job done, but it pales
Sometimes you simply need more space, in comparison to the OEM offerings from
and in this respect, my wife’s 2008 Honda Hyundai and Ram.