Hyundai NZ take aim at Tesla with new Auckland billboard

'Attack advertising' is something New Zealand is still getting used to. There's something about sticking the knife in and twisting it in a public space that our culture doesn't seem to gel with. 

But, give it time. 

Hyundai New Zealand have officially pushed the button on marketing for their upcoming Kona Electric — a 400km-per-charge, 64kWh compact SUV that will soon be proudly sit in pride of place at your local Hyundai dealership. 

Click here to read Driven's full story from the Kona Electric local launch

That range figure is the Kona EV's major strength, and makes it the closest yet (on the Kiwi market, at least) to the figures achievable in Tesla's Model S, Model X, and upcoming Model 3. And, Hyundai's latest Auckland billboard wants to make that connection for you.

"Your turn, Elon" it says ... adding "soon to be NZ's #1 EV" as a 'knock out blow'.

Whether this ad will get back to Elon Musk (Tesla's CEO) is up for debate. The guy has bigger fish to fry right now, given that Tesla's share prices dropped by nine per cent last Friday off the back of a New York Times interview where Musk admitted that this year's been the most "difficult and painful" of his career. 

It will be interesting to see how the Model 3 lines up alongside the Kona Electric. It's expected to arrive next year, though ballpark times and pricing are still to be confirmed. 

Beyond being electric, the two cars don't share a huge amount. One's a compact SUV, the other is a compact sedan. One's available elsewhere on the market as a mainstream ICE model, the other is exclusively electric. One's buried with complex design, the other has less moving parts in its cabin than most pencil sharpeners. You get my point.

While our initial musings on the Kona were positive, we also know that it's no perfect beast. Charging times are its main vice. Plugged into a $2000–$2500 Hyundai fast AC wall charger, it'll reach full charge in between eight and nine hours. Plugged it into a home socket instead, and that period grows to an agonizing 43 hours. 

A less potent 39kWh Kona EV is on the horizon, and it's meant to almost halve those times while also costing less than the 64kWh version's $73,990 base price.