The first boatload of Hyundai Kona Electric has arrived in Norway to be the first vehicles to be delivered to customers outside of South Korea.

The relatively affordable long-range EV is already making waves in the popular market for electric vehicles.

Hyundai claims to have accumulated over 20,000 reservations for the new all-electric CUV.

Øyvind Lillestrøm Knudsen, Product manager at Hyundai Motor Norway, said:

“It’s no wonder that KONA Electric wakes up so much demand. This is the first electric car with a sensible price tag that offers both tremendously long range, full range of active safety and a complete multimedia package,”

For some customers, just over 100 to be more precise, the wait is over as the first boatload of Hyundai Kona Electric CUVs arrived at Drammen Harbor this week:

Hyundai says that “hundreds of cars” are also coming in other boats with the next one coming in “mid August.”

We reported last month that Hyundai has now produced the first ~2,000 Kona Electric and shipped out the first 1,000 vehicles for exports – keeping the rest for domestic deliveries.

The new Kona Electric compact SUV will be offered in a ‘Short-range’ battery pack option, which consists of a 39.2 kWh battery pack enabling a range of 300 km (186 miles) on a single charge.

That version of the vehicle will also be equipped with a 99 kW permanent magnet synchronous electric motor putting down 395 Nm of torque and a top speed of 167 km/h (103 mph).

But for now, a higher-performance version with a ‘Long-range’ battery pack option is currently in production. Under this configuration, the Kona Electric is equipped with a 64 kWh battery pack, which will enable “nearly 470 km (292 miles) of range,” according to the automaker.

The price of the Long Range version has been released in Norway where it starts at 325.900 kr, which is the equivalent of around $40,000 USD.

It makes the vehicle highly competitive in the market.

Prices and availability haven’t been confirmed for other markets, but it is expected to be available in the coming months.

Electrek’s Take

The Kona Electric is an exciting new entry in the EV space due to its price point. It’s likely going to fit the needs of many more people who will now have access to EV ownership.

Unfortunately, it looks like the biggest drawback is going to be availability as Hyundai is reportedly planning for production of fewer than 30,000 units per year.

Based on the demand in Norway alone, it looks like they could ship all the cars there.

We have yet to try out the Kona Electric but we look forward to doing so in the next few months and we should have a better idea of the planned rollout by then.

If you know anything about the Kona Electric, you can reach out to me via wickr (encrypted): fredev, Twitter: @FredericLambert, or email: fred@9to5mac.com.

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