Hyundai Kona vs Haval H2

What's the difference?

It hardly feels cutting-edge in the world of EVs, but it is refreshingly familiar to look at, sit in and drive, and it shrinks the jump from an ICE vehicle to your first EV into something that feels entirely manageable. This is easy, breezy, fuss-free electric motoring.

How you define value will determine whether the Haval H2 City is the right small SUV for you. In terms of metal for money it delivers heaps of space, a reasonable standard features list and adequate safety. But it's let down by mediocre performance, sub-par dynamics and a surprising thirst for (premium) unleaded. Brand Finance may rank Haval high on the power index, but the product needs to climb a few rungs higher before that potential's realised.

Hyundai has made a big deal about designing the new Kona as an EV first, so it doesn't matter if you buy the petrol, the hybrid or the full electric, they all share styling cues.

But for mine, the Electric is the pick of the bunch, looking modern – futuristic even – without pushing it too far.

Some EVs look like they will age like a glass of milk, but the Kona isn't one of them. I suspect it will still look plenty sharp five years from now.

Even the sharp body creases along its flanks don't look overly in-your-face, and the design of the alloy wheels, the lightly flared wheel arches and the swept-back roofline all give the Kona Electric a relatively sleek and sporty profile.

But the Kona Electric looks best from front-on, where the slim light bars, pixelated grille and rounded snout look great.

Inside, the Kona Electric is a little more predictable, coming across as any other internal-combustion SUV, rather than delivering some future-facing cabin of surprises – albeit with the Drive selector shifted from its usual place between driver and passenger to a stalk to the right of the steering wheel.

Inoffensive but uninspiring is a blunt yet fair summation of the Haval H2 City's exterior design, especially when you think about rivals like the dramatic Toyota C-HR, edgy Hyundai Kona, or funky Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.

The nose is dominated by a huge, slatted and chromed grille with bright metal mesh behind it, and vaguely Audi-of-10-years-ago shaped headlights either side.

The lighting treatment is elaborate with projector halogen main beams and reflector halogen high-beam units surrounded by a dotted-line string of LEDs looking uncomfortably like aftermarket inserts available via your online auction site of choice.

Standard fog-lights are recessed into a blacked-out area under the bumper, with another line of LEDs, functioning as DRLs, below that. And just to complicate matters, the upper LEDs only illuminate with the headlights, while the lower units come to life when the headlights are off.

A sharp character line runs along the H2's flanks from the trailing edge of the headlights to the tail, with an equally distinct swage line running from front to back, narrowing the car's mid-section and accentuating the bulge of its wheelarches, filled adequately by standard 18-inch multi-spoke alloy rims.

The rear is similarly reserved, the only hint of flash confined to a roof-top spoiler, cool typeface chosen for the prominent Haval badging across the hatch door, and a diffuser with chrome exhaust tips poking through either side.

Inside, the look and feel is early noughties plain, The dashtop is a nice soft-touch material, but there are lots of buttons and old-school analogue instruments combined with a media and ventilation interface that might have been acceptable on a mainstream model 20 years ago.

Don't even think about Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. The tiny LCD screen (sitting below a CD slot) wins the smallest, most basic graphics award. A miniscule scale reflecting the manual air-con's temperature setting is a particular low-light.

A small 3.5-inch screen between the tacho and speedometer displays fuel economy and distance information, but frustratingly no digital speed read-out. Standard cloth trim has a distinctly synthetic but tough feel, while the polyurethane plastic steering wheel is another throwback.

Sure, we're at the budget end of the market here, but be prepared for low-tech design combined with cheap and cheerful execution.

It's bigger than its ever been, this new-generation Kona, measuring just over 4.3m long, 1.8m wide and close to 1.6m tall – 30mm taller and 145mm longer than the model it has replaced.

And yes, that's most notable in the back seat, where my 175cm frame fits with ease. Hyundai tells me there's now 77mm more legroom, 17mm more shoulder room and 15mm more headroom, but what you really need to know is there is space aplenty for second-row riders.

The boot is bigger, too, now 407L to 1241L, and there are ample storage cubbies, bottle holders and console storage, including pop-out cupholders between driver and passenger.

At 4.3m long, 1.8m wide, and just under 1.7m high the Haval H2 is a big small SUV, and there's plenty of room inside.

Up front, storage runs to a bin (with sliding top) between the seats, two large cupholders in the centre console and a lidded oddments tray in front of the gearshift, as well as a sunglass holder, average-sized glove box and door bins with room for bottles. You'll notice the pennies saved with non-illumination of the sunvisor vanity mirrors.

Rear seat passengers pick up generous head, leg, and importantly, shoulder room. Three large adults across the back will be tight but do-able for short trips. Kids and young teenagers, no problem.

A centre fold-down armrest houses neatly integrated dual-cupholders, there are bins with space for bottles in each door and map pockets on the front seat backs. No adjustable air vents for backseaters, though.

Connectivity and power runs to two 12-volt outlets, a USB-A port and an 'aux-in' jack, all in the front.

Although a strong seller in the small SUV segment, the Mazda3's Achilles heel is its modest 264-litre boot, and while the H2 exceeds that number, it's not by much.

The Haval's 300-litre capacity is way less than the Honda HR-V (437 litres), Toyota C-HR (377 litres) and Hyundai Kona (361 litres). But it's enough to swallow the bulky CarsGuide pram or three-piece hard suitcase set (35, 68 and 105 litres), and (as with all contenders in the segment) a 60/40 split-fold rear seat increases flexibility and volume.

If you're into towing, the H2's limited to 750kg for an un-braked trailer and 1200kg braked, and the spare tyre is a full-size (18-inch) steel rim shod with narrower space-saving (155/85) rubber.

At the time of publication, the Haval H2 City was carrying a drive-away price tag - $19,990 for the six-speed manual version and $20,990 for the six-speed auto (as tested here).

So, you're getting a lot of metal and interior space for your money, but what about the standard features taken for granted in the H2's main competitors?

Included in that drive-away price are the 18-inch alloys, keyless entry and start, reverse parking sensors, (manual) air-conditioning, cruise control, front and rear fog lights, LED daytime running lights, ambient interior lighting, heated front seats, rear privacy glass, and cloth trim.

But the headlights are halogen, the audio is four-speaker (with Bluetooth and single CD player), the safety tech (covered in the Safety section below) is relatively basic, and 'our' car's 'Pewter' (silver metallic) paint is a $495 option.

Equivalent entry-level competitors from Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Toyota will set you back between five and $10k more than this H2. And if you're happy to live without features like a media touchscreen, digital radio, leather accented wheel and gearshift, rear air vents, reversing camera, etc, etc, etc, you're onto a winner.

Both Kona variants are single-motor propositions, but you do get more grunt when you opt for the bigger battery.

Base-model cars get a single, front-mounted electric motor, producing 99kW and 255Nm, while the Premium and Extended Range models deliver 150kW and 255Nm.

Neither, though, are particularly fast, reporting a 9.9sec or 8.1sec sprint to 100km/h, respectively.

The Haval H2 City (as tested) is powered by a 1.5-litre direct-injection, turbo-petrol, four-cylinder engine driving the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission.

Peak power (110kW) arrives at 5600rpm, with maximum torque (210Nm) delivered at 2200rpm.

We know already that the Kona can be had with two battery sizes, and the first (48.6kWh) will deliver a theoretical driving range of 370km on the WLTP cycle.

The bigger battery, now 64.8kWh, ups that number to 505km, but with a catch.

See, the Premium arrives with 19-inch alloy wheels, which look great, but also reduce efficiency, dropping your range to 444km. To get the full 505km, you need to stick with the 17-inch alloys.

It's also not the fastest-charging EV on the planet. The on-board AC charger is now set up for 10.4kW (though most home chargers are more like 7.0kW), but DC charging is limited to less than 100kW, meaning a 10 to 80 percent charge takes 45 minutes – or over an hour if you're using a 50kW fast charging station.

The Kona Electric also introduces an interior V2L plug, the same kind you might find in your kitchen, meaning you can plug in thirstier electronic deceives like laptops when on the move.

Claimed fuel economy for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 9.0L/100km, the 1.5-litre turbo four emitting 208g/km of CO2 in the process.

Not exactly outstanding, and over roughly 250km of city, suburban and freeway running we recorded 10.8L/100km (at the bowser).

Another rude surprise is the fact the H2 requires 95 RON premium unleaded fuel, of which you'll need 55 litres to fill the tank.

What's it like to drive? Bloody easy, to be honest. What I loved about the old Kona Electric still rings true here, and that is that it this feels like a very easy step to make if you're moving into your first electric vehicle.

It looks familiar, it feels familiar, and it's immediately familiar to drive.

You know how some EVs feel mega-futuristic, pushing you back in your chair every time you poke the accelerator, all silent and slightly discombobulating aggression?

Well, this isn't one of those. It's smooth, sedate even, with fairly leisurely acceleration, smooth steering and a ride that's comfy enough, too.

But as I was cruising back from Canberra to Sydney (which required a charging stop, btw), I was pondering what it is people want from a small SUV. Mind-bending performance? Or practicality and comfort?

I suspect it's the latter, and the Kona Electric delivers on that front.

That said, the time it takes to charge is punishing. To have to stop for 30 minutes on the drive between Canberra and Sydney (granted, it was only 80 percent charged when I got in it) is tough, but it's made tougher still when the time stationary is half an hour plus.

Cold weather and internal-combustion engines are usually firm friends. Lower ambient temperature means denser air entering the cylinder (even under the extra pressure of a turbo), and as long as more fuel arrives at the same time, you'll have a bigger bang and more power.

But the H2 City's 1.5-litre four must have missed the memo, because cool morning start-ups result in a distinct reluctance to proceed at normal pace.

Sure, there's forward motion, but pinning the right-hand pedal to the floor won't shift the speedo needle much above a brisk walking pace. Unsettling.

Even after a few minutes, when things settle into a more predictable pattern, this Haval hovers at the sluggish end of the performance spectrum.

Not that any of the compact SUVs it competes with are rocketships, but you can generally expect a turbo-petrol engine to serve up a decent dose of low-down grunt.

However, with a maximum output of 210Nm delivered at a relatively high 2200rpm the 1.5-tonne H2 won't be threatening the land speed record anytime soon.

Suspension is strut front, multi-link rear, with the H2 City riding on (235/55x18) Kumho Solus KL21 rubber, and on typically pock-marked and bumpy urban roads ride quality could be better.

The steering displays some nervousness on centre, which combines with a lack of road feel and a mildly disconcerting top-heavy sensation in cornering. It's not that the car lurches or suffers from too much body roll; more that something isn't quite right in the front-end geometry.

On the upside, although firm, the front seats are comfortable, the exterior mirrors are nice and big, overall noise levels are moderate, and the brakes (vented disc front / solid disc rear) are reassuringly progressive.

On the downside, the media system (such as it is) is woeful. Plug your mobile device (mine's an iPhone 7) into the car's single USB port and you'll be met by a 'Loading-USB error' message, the heating and ventilation read-outs on the letterbox slot screen are a joke, and to top it all, select reverse and the audio cuts out altogether.

In terms of active safety the H2 City ticks the 'cost-of-entry' boxes, including ABS, BA, EBD, ESP, rear parking senors, tyre-pressure monitoring and emergency brake hazard lighting.

But forget about more recent systems like AEB, lane keeping assistance, blind spot monitoring, cross traffic alerts or adaptive cruise. And you don't get a reversing camera.

If a crash is unavoidable the airbag count runs to six (dual front, dual front side, and dual curtain). And there are three child restraint/baby capsule top tether points across the back seat, with ISOFIX anchors on the outer two positions.

The Haval H2 scored a maximum five-star ANCAP rating in late 2017, a rank it would not replicate when assessed against 2019's more challenging criteria.

The Kona Electric is covered by Hyundai's five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty,  while the battery is covered for eight years or 160,000km.

Servicing is a strong point, with the intervals pegged at 24 months or 30,000km, and capped at $520 per visit for the first three services, or up to six years.

Haval covers all new cars it sells in Australia with a seven year/unlimited km warranty with 24-hour roadside assistance provided for five years/100,000km.

That's a strong statement from the brand, and well ahead of the major players in the mainstream market.

Service is recommended every 12 months/10,000km, and no capped-price servicing program is currently in place.