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Maybe you’re not ready for a pure-electric EV, and maybe you’re even reluctant to accept gas-engine/battery-powered hybrids or plug-in hybrids for your next vehicle. If that’s you, Hyundai is ready to sell you a car that will dazzle your senses but deliver basic, straightforward operation — even while looking like a hybrid our EV.

It’s the 2024 Kona, a surprising example of the full scope of vehicles now available.

The first Kona came out in 2019 as an early 2020 compact SUV, that fit in perfectly at the bottom end of an array of SUVs that rise to the Tucson, Santa Fe, for awhile the Veracruz, and then the Palisade. With those others, Hyundai needed a compact, smaller family utility vehicle that would handle all the challenges of a small family, and the first Kona won dozens of awards for being the top small SUV available.

With either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, the Kona with the lively and efficient 1.6-liter turbocharged four could take your family charging up the steepest hills or through the deepest snowfall in secure comfort, and deliver about 30 miles per gallon in the process. My wife, Joan, and I were so impressed I named the Kona the “New car pick of the year,” and, in fact, we were so impressed we bought one!

It’s been swift, durable, trouble-free and able to handle the worst winters in Duluth history in a single bound, and it gives us 32 miles per gallon in nearly all circumstances. There are only two shortcomings for us with the Kona: First, we could use a little more space in the rear seat, bercause we have two adult sons who prove when they visit us that head and legroom can be a bit snug. Not bad for Jack, who is 5-11, but Jeff is 6-foot-4, and when he visits, generally Joan makes him sit up front where there’s sufficient room, and she climbs in back, which she doesn’t really like to do. My only other complaint is that our car lacks the steering wheel paddles to control downshifts on steep declines.

The Tucson, the next size up, would be more than big enough, but then we got the word that Hyundai was aiming its first major revision of the Kona for 2024, and it would be about 8 inches longer than ours. It is here now, and I just had the chance to spend a week enjoying all the new Kona’s attributes.

Hyundai makes outstanding vehicles, with high-economy gasoline engines, and with breakthrough technology in hybrids and plug-in hybrids — plus its pure EV vehicles have won all sorts of acclaim throughout the industry, with the sharply-chiseled work of art known as the Ioniq 5, and the elongated and aerodynamic Ioniq 6, with long-range single or dual battery electric motors, ranking among the top EVs in the industry. The normal Hyundai cars and SUVs have a sleek, stylish appearance, while those Ioniqs both have a high-tech look to them.

That’s what fools you about the Kona. At a glance, you are sure it must be an EV, because its overall appearance screams “high tech.” If not, then it must be a hybrid. No again.

The brilliant thing about the Kona is that it copies the interior features and controls from the instruments to the navigation screens, to the shifter directly from the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6. The digital instruments are clustered n a huge 12.3 diagonal inch rectangle, with everything easy to read through the steering wheel, while the navigation screen with audio, climate, maps and connectivity from Apple or Android, and wireless charging that features a slightly raised live point that accommodates all the goofy cellphone protective cases that can make charging awkward.

You climb into the leather bucket seat behind the steering wheel, and it might take several days to realize it’s not really leather, but something called H-Tex, which Hyundai says is “leatherette,” reviving a term Volkswagen used to describe the everlasting seat covering in the Beetles, dating back to 1960!

Push-button start brings your Kona to life, then you look for the shift lever. There it is — a short, stubby stalk protruding from the right of the steering column, positioned where you might well not see it because of the steering wheel spoke. You are in park, or neutral, and you twist the knob clockwise one click to engage reverse, or counter-clockwise one click to engage drive. My first thought was: Why work so hard to make it needlessly counterintuitive?

On the other hand, I had spent a week driving a new Ioniq 6, which had the same controls throughout, and I got over my criticisms with that vehicle, so in the Kona, adding such high-tech amenities makes more sense than just logical product planning.

The car we tested was painted Mirage Green — fitting, if you agree with my take that the Kona fools you from appearance to operation. It also has brilliantly bright LED headlights, taillights, daytime running lights, ambient lights and even interior lights. In fact, my preference was to turn down the intensity of the interior dash lights for better night-driving contrast. The light green paint contrasted well with the charcoal plastic protective pieces on the wheelwells.

As Hyundai improved its worldly status through the 2010s, it maintained its excellent incentive to consumers of offering a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty, and that is still in effect. It seems even heightened in importance now because consumers are worried about battery packs and electric motors, even though they’ve proven more reliable and durable than gas engine pieces.

My test car was a loaded Limited model, with its Bose premium sound system along with the countless safety and comfort features. But the biggest surprise might have been that it did not have either an electric motor or hybrid powertrain, and it also didn’t have the basic 147-horsepower 2.0-liter gas engine with its 6-speed automatic. No, the test car had my favorite 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine with an 8-speed automatic that shifted smoothly and with precision. But my preference would be for the thing to also have a hybrid powertrain with the outstanding collaboration between Hyundai and LG Chem, its South Korean neighbor which seems to design and build the best electric batteries and motors for hybrid use.

The 1.6-turbo delivers an EPA estimated 190 horsepower, which tells you the impact turbocharging can make on an engine, boosting it nearly 50 horses beyond the larger 2.0. However, it takes more power to run the larger Kona for 2024, resulting in a hit in the fuel economy. The 2.0 gets an estimated 26 miles per gallon city and 32 highway, while the 1.6 turbo with all-wheel drive has an estimated 24 mpg city and 29 mpg highway. Our 2019 Kona with the 1.6 turbo can get 35 mpg in summer and stays around 30 or higher even scaling Duluth’s hills in winter. Soto offset the added weight, supplemental electric power would be an ideal fit.

My guess is that adding the latest hybrid technology would get you into the 40s for miles per gallon with the new and heavier Kona, but much as I searched Hyundai’s expansive catalogs, I can’t find either a hybrid or EV form for the new Kona. We might be surprised at that, but we will not be surprised if it comes out when the new Kona gets through its first year on the longer wheelbase platform.

The sticker price has been held in check by Hyundai, with the base price at $2,100 for FWD, and $25,452 for moving up to AWD. Our test car had a base price of $33,150 and a sticker of $34,695. In other words, numerous added features are standard on the Limited, making it a good investment.

Hyundai’s usual array of safety stuff is all on board, including blind-spot assist, smart cruise, highway driving assist, forward collision alert and prevention, lane keeping and lane tracing, weary driver alert, plus a power sunroof and roof-rails on the sides. Also greatly appreciated on chilly mornings is a heated steering wheel and the quick-heating bucket seats, and an easily overlooked feature is the driving mode button to firm up handling and performance.

You might expect such features on a more expensive and larger vehicle, but the new Kona is full of surprises, and somehow Hyundai has managed to keep the price down.