Convenience and Warranty

The 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric gets some pretty advanced features on its base trim. This includes heated front seats, a six-speaker audio system, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. Neither the Bolt EV nor the Leaf gets standard heated front seats or a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and the Niro EV does without standard heated front seats. Also, the Leaf’s base audio system has just four speakers. The 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric is quite spacious as well, yielding 45.8 cubic feet of cargo space. While the Bolt EV doesn’t list its cargo volume specs, the Leaf only gets 30 cu. ft., and even though the Niro EV has the 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric beat in this regard, it fails to match up in other areas.

Hyundai’s warranties outdo both Chevy’s and Nissan’s. The 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric is covered by a 5-year/60,000-mile limited warranty and a 10-year/100,000-mile electric battery warranty. Both the Bolt EV and Leaf only receive a 3-year/36,000-mile limited warranty. The Bolt EV’s battery warranty is two years shorter than the 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric’s, and the Leaf’s battery is only covered for 5 years/60,000 miles. The only other model in this comparison that offers the same general warranty terms as the 2020 Hyundai Kona EV is the Niro EV – but Hyundai includes a longer anti-perforation warranty, at 7 years/unlimited miles versus Kia’s 5 years/100,000 miles.

Range and Power

On a full charge, the 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric has a range of 258 miles, but its closest competitor, the Niro EV, only goes 239 miles on a charge. The Bolt EV is officially rated as securing one extra mile of range over the 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric: hardly a deal breaker considering the other areas it falls short in. The Leaf, meanwhile, trails far behind with a range of just 149 miles.

The 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric will please those who want a little pep from their EV, as it offers a fairly robust motor that produces 201 horsepower and 291 lb.-ft. of torque. This beats out the Bolt EV’s 200 hp and 266 lb.-ft. of torque and crushes the Leaf’s 147 hp and 236 lb.-ft. of torque. The closely related Niro EV flaunts the same amount of power as the 2020 Hyundai Kona EV.

Safety

The 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric was awarded a five-star safety rating by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). While the Bolt EV was given a five-star rating as well, the Leaf has not yet been rated, and the 2019 Niro Hybrid version was only given a four-star rating (the EV was not specifically tested). To further its safety factor, the 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric and the 2019 Kia Niro come standard with blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and a driver attention warning system. The blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert features are only available for the Bolt EV through an optional package, and that car lacks a driver attention warning system entirely. The Leaf gets standard blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, but its driver attention warning system is not standard.