- Hyundai is pausing production of the Kona Electric, with the brand’s smallest and most affordable EV skipping the 2026 model year.
- The company says that “there is sufficient inventory of Kona Electric for model year 2025 to meet consumer demand at this time.”
- Hyundai claims the Kona Electric will return for the 2027 model year, with production restarting in June.
Many automakers initially entered the EV market by converting their existing gasoline models to electric power, with Hyundai choosing its subcompact Kona as a tribute for an EV swap in 2019. Still, after launching new EVs built on specialty platforms like the Ioniq 5, Hyundai has kept the Kona Electric alive for a second generation. However, sales do not seem to meet expectations, which Hyundai confirms Car and driver that the Kona Electric will skip the 2026 model year.
The Kona Electric isn’t permanently dead, however. “There is sufficient inventory of the 2025 model year Kona Electric to meet consumer demand for the model at this time,” a Hyundai spokesperson said in a statement. “Kona Electric production will return after a brief hiatus, with assembly resuming in June as a 2027 model year.”
While Hyundai says there are enough Kona Electrics in dealerships to meet demand, the Car and driver The shopping tool lists only 25 new Kona Electrics for sale nationwide, while Cars.com currently shows 77 available units. Hyundai’s own website doesn’t show any inventory further than 250 miles from a zip code, but it doesn’t seem like there are many new Kona Electrics for sale. Hyundai also does not distinguish between sales of the electric variant and total Kona sales, but Cox Automotive estimated that Hyundai sold just 3,011 units of the Kona Electric last year, a 41 percent drop from 2024.
Hyundai says the Kona Electric will be back for the 2027 model year, and we expect it to return with only the base SE trim that was originally announced for 2026. That model has a 48.6 kWh battery pack, good for a range of 200 miles, and a 133-hp front-wheel drive. The Kona Electric is the latest in a growing number of EVs to be canceled prematurely or skip a model year, like the now-defunct Acura ZDX or the on-hiatus Volkswagen ID.Buzz, as EVs face stronger headwinds following the Trump administration’s elimination of the federal EV tax credit last fall.
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