The first-ever all-electric SUV from the Korean manufacturer, the Hyundai Kona was recently launched in India with an ex-showroom price tag of INR 25.30 lakh. According to the reports, in the recent Union Budget announcement, a proposal to slash the GST on electric vehicles from 12% to 5% has been announced, which may lead to an INR 1.40 lakh of a price drop for the Hyundai Kona SUV. If the new proposal is accepted, the new price tag for the car is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister in the Union Budget Announcement suggested a proposal for the GST cut on the e-products so as to promote their use in the Indian community which can further lead to a much cleaner and better environment to live in. If the government of India agrees to pass the proposal, it is still unclear whether the GST cut will be implemented on every EV or on some of the EVs within a particular price bracket.
Commenting on the reduction of GST on the Hyundai Kona, Puneet Anand, Senior General Manager & Group Head, Marketing at Hyundai India stated: “We expect the GST cut to result in a benefit of Rs 1.40 lakh.” For the customers availing a loan for the electric SUV, the new government proposal can offer them benefits of INR 1.5 lakhs that can be deducted from the interest mandatory on the instalments.
For jogging your memory, powering the Hyundai Kona SUV is a 39.2kWh lithium-ion battery pack capable of churning out a maximum power of 136 HP and a peak torque of 395 Nm. The ARAI certified range of the SUV stands at 452 km while it is known to cover a distance of 0-100 kph in just a duration of 9.7 seconds.
The electric SUV can be charged (80%) in just 57 minutes via a 50 kW DC fast charger while the wall box charger offered by the brand at the time of purchase allows the EV to be charged 100% in 6 hours. Hyundai offers Kona Electric SUV with a standard 3-year/unlimited warranty as well as an 8-year/1.6 lakh kilometre warranty for the battery.