Firstly, as much as I would love to have the peace of mind with a Toyota, the Japanese are really struggling with their interiors. The Elite trim of the Kona has all the bells and whistles, with creature comforts that I find hard to live without. The exterior styling, although pretty subjective, is daring and more fun than any other car in this category.

The traditional mainstay in this segment, B class and 2 series may have better branding but the uniqueness of this car should give people a reason to consider. First, the exterior may divide people into wondering if it should be a SUV or MPV. To me it doesn't matter when I entered the car. Nothing shouts cheap even though there are some hard plastic lying around. To me, I'd prefer fabrics for the seats like Citroen than leather to add in more character. The space is really humongous. I even thought that a double decker bed is possible inside this car. A secret wishlist would be probably to have more rear overhang to accommodate 2 more seats. Driving wise, it may be not that explosive moving off compared to it's EV peers but for city driving, it should be adequate. Handling has nothing to be mentioned for a vehicle with such a squarish proportion. Overall I hope that this vehicle will sell well because it deserves to and maybe a possibility to add 2 more seats in future versions?

The ES can be described as the cheapest brand new sedan that we can get in the market today. However its features is more of shouting out to fleet operators than actual consumers. The exterior and interior has nothing to boast of, safe and honest without signs of any design inspiration from German cars, it is something to be applauded. Sitting down in the driver's seat, the 2 thick spoke steering wheel shouts out 80s Crown taxi. The analog dials looks like it shared the same vendor as the MG5. The 7" Infotainment is in need of help from AliExpress ASAP. The rear space while enormous, doesn't comes with a split fold and rear armrest but we don't use it 99% of the time. Trunk is also spacious. Driving it is quite relaxing and rather light on the foot as it still can pull better than the factory figure of 12s 0-100kmh. The steering is responsive and ride on the slightly firm side of things. The indicated range of 400 km per charge is all right for a city like Singapore. Otherwise think twice if you often go to places beyond JB. Overall as a consumer, I will still mind even if it's 20k cheaper than Y plus reason being to have a EV being associated with simplicity is weird.