New GST Relief for Electric Vehicles To Likely Bring Down Hyundai Kona’s Cost

South Korean maker Hyundai recently launched their Kona electric SUV in the Indian market and the prices for the SUV start at Rs. 25.3 lakhs in the Indian market. This is a steep price to say the least, reason being the CKD route that the maker is taking to bring the SUV to India. However, prospective owners of the SUV will heave a sigh of relief as the government has some good news for them. The prices for the SUV will probably come down by Rs. 1.5 lakhs as the government of India has announced a relief of in the GST rated for electric vehicles. The GST council headed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday took the decision to bring down GST for electric vehicles from 12 % to 5 %. This effective cut in price will bring down the price of the Hyundai Kona to around Rs. 23.8 lakhs.

The recently presented union budget also announced a relief on income tax of up to Rs. 2.5 lakhs on electric cars. This scheme will hold true for Hyundai Kona as well. This combined with the GST cut that the government has announced for the electric vehicle will effectively bring down the end cost of Kona by a margin of around Rs. 4 lakhs. These moves are a part of government’s push for electric vehicles in the Indian market. A move that has come under fire from several people inside the auto industry itself. 

SS Kim the managing director and CEO of Hyundai Motor India spoke on the occasion of government’s move to offer GST cuts for electric vehicles and stated,

Hyundai welcomes the GST council’s historic decision to reduce the GST on Electric Vehicles from 12% to 5% and on EV chargers from 18% to 5%. The tax benefit will help create an ecosystem that will encourage faster mass adoption of EVs in our society. With the launch of India’s first Fully Electric SUV – KONA Electric, Hyundai has already strengthened its commitment to bring ‘Clean Mobility’ Solutions to the Indian customers and the company is thankful to Government of India for fulfilling their promise as this strategic decision by GST council will further strengthen confidence of prospective buyers for electric mobility in future.

The biggest USP that the brand is touting for the Kona is the massive 452 kilometre range of the SUV. The 39.2 kWh battery pack of the electric SUV from the South Korean maker equips it to deliver 135 Bhp and 335 Nm. The 0-100 km/h time for the Kona SUV is just 9.3 seconds. The SUV also comes with fast charging capability that takes the charge level of the vehicle to 4/5th of the total charge capacity or at 80% capacity in just under an hour. Whereas, the normal charging time for 0-100% stands at 6 hours 10 minutes. The company is currently working on installing fast chargers in major cities of India. All Hyundai dealerships which will sell EVs will have a 7.2 kW AC charger to cater to the needs of the customers.