South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. said on Friday that its compact Kona Electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) has set record driving range of over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) in a single charge in a test drive in Germany, making headway in its EV drive.

According to Hyundai Motor, three Kona Electric SUVs each achieved a driving range of 1,026 kilometers (637.5 miles), 1,024.1 kilometers, and 1,018.7 kilometers in a test drive in Germany between July 22 and 24. During the test drive, the vehicles showed fuel efficiency of 16 kilometers per 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) – longer than the country’s standard electric vehicle efficiency of 5.6 kilometers per kWh.

The test drive took place for 35 hours by multiple drivers at Euro Speedway Lausitzring, a racing circuit in Germany. The test drive was carried out jointly with leading German automobile magazine Auto Bild and was monitored by Dekra, operator of Lausitzring.

For maximum mileage, Hyundai Motor test team did not turn on the air conditioner even in high outside temperature of 29 degrees Celsius and turned off infotainment system. The team operated daytime running light (DRL) to keep traffic laws in check.

The average speed of test drivers was 30 kilometers per hour, the automaker said, which is similar to the average speed on actual roads taking into consideration heavy traffic, signal lights, and speed restrictions.

Hyundai Motor said that the three Kona Electric vehicles reached record driving range of over 1,000 kilometers.

Kona Electric is the most popular electric car sold by Hyundai Motor in Europe. In the first seven months of the year, the Korean carmaker sold 204,737 cars in Europe and 8.1 percent or 16,511 units were of Kona Electric.

Hyundai Motor has been producing Kona Electric at its plant in Czech Republic since March to meet growing demand for environmentally-friendly vehicles in the region, reducing time for European consumers for release.

Jurgen Keller, managing director at Hyundai Motor Deutschland GmbH, said that the latest test drive has showed potential of Kona Electric as an efficient environmentally-friendly SUV.

By Lee Eun-joo

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