NO DRAMA. No CEO sleeping at the factory, no media circus. The 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric—a winsome little crossover with an estimated 258 miles of range, expected to be priced under $30,000 with tax credits—will arrive quietly at California dealerships by year’s end, where I expect it will be devoured on sight.

The Kona Electric marks a point in technical history we all knew car makers would reach, when executing a competent, long-range EV would be not just doable but relatively straightforward. This maturation can be seen in the Electric’s liquid-cooled, 356-V, 64-kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack that’s layered between the floor boards. Weighing fewer than 1,000 pounds and assembled from what are effectively off-the-shelf pouch cells from LG Chem, the pack exhibits an energy density of 64.2 Wh/lb, superior to that of the Chevy Bolt, which arrived only two years ago with the ballyhoo of a moon landing.

Thus provisioned, Hyundai’s mini-ute outdistances the Bolt (238 miles), the Jaguar I-Pace (234) and even comes within a whisker of Tesla’s base Model 3 (260). The affrontery, the cheek!

Kona’s high-voltage battery pack ticks a lot of boxes, actually. It has an unusually robust (costly/elaborate) liquid cooling circuit to protect the battery. As one measure of how far it all has come in so short a time, Hyundai Motor America offers a lifetime warranty on the battery.

Plug-wise, the Electric is equipped with an onboard 7.2 kW inverter for Level 2 charging, with capacity of up to 70-75 kW at a DC fast charging station with the SAE-Combo plug—if you can find one. At that rate, the Electric’s battery can go from dead-flat to 80% charge in about 54 minutes.