On the open road, the Creta Electric provides instant acceleration when you touch the accelerator. The instant acceleration will see you leaving most ICE cars behind, left in the dust. Hyundai claims that the car will do a 0-100 km/h sprint in 7.9 seconds, which is pretty fast.
Driving the Hyundai Creta Electric Long range
Bonnet has liquids and electricals on either side of the frunk:
The Creta Electric is powered by an interior permanent magnet synchronous motor. Many components of the PE system have been carried over from the company’s global models.
The Long-range variant uses a high-density 51.4 kWh NMC battery pack mounted on the floor of the car. It features a battery monitoring unit carried over from the Ioniq 5. This includes:
- Power relay assembly that controls a high voltage power circuit between the HV battery and electric control unit
- High voltage fuse that cuts off the power in case of overcurrent and short circuit
- Liquid cooling path for battery cooling / heating
- Battery module assembly for protection and support structure
The battery pack comes with an IP67 waterproof / dustproof rating. Hyundai claims to have performed a 16 ft. drop test on it. The company also claims to have conducted a water soak test on the car (420 mm depth for 120 seconds). Additionally, the car comes with a battery heater that is claimed to ensure performance in cold temperatures (up to -35 degrees Celsius).
Start the car, shift to ‘D’ mode, take your foot off the brake pedal and the car gets off the line in a smooth manner. It will crawl forward without any accelerator input. The power delivery is linear and predictable. There are no jerks from gearshifts and no sound from the engine sound means it is an extremely refined experience. We preferred to use the Eco mode while driving in the city. It felt more than adequate for driving in the city and keeping up with the traffic. Also with the regen set to its strongest level (4), the car can be driven by just using the accelerator and without using the brakes in bumper-to-bumper traffic. All these factors make the Creta Electric very easy to use in city traffic.
On the open road, the Creta Electric provides instant acceleration when you touch the accelerator. The instant acceleration will see you leaving most ICE cars behind, left in the dust. Hyundai claims that the car will do a 0-100 km/h sprint in 7.9 seconds, which is pretty fast.
The Creta Electric can easily cruise at triple-digit speeds on the highway and when you need to overtake a slower vehicle quickly, just floor the A-pedal and fly past the vehicle. However, the harder you drive, the faster the range drops.
There are 3 driving modes to choose from and unlike some other cars, these aren’t gimmicky. They’re mapped specifically for different driving styles and also change the steering weight.
- Normal Mode: This is the default mode to drive in and works well in the city as well as the highway. It is a good balance of power and economy.
- Eco Mode: When you want to extract maximum range, this is the mode to engage. The throttle response is dumbed down which results in a smoother drive. Still, you never feel that the car is lacking power. There’s still enough power on tap to keep up with traffic and even overtake. While we found this mode to be the best for driving in the city, it also delivered acceptable performance on the highway.
- Sport Mode: In this mode, the throttle response is the sharpest and the car. It is best to use it on undivided highways when you need to overtake slower vehicles very quickly. On the downside, it feels a little too jerky for day-to-day city driving and also eats up battery faster.
Regenerative Braking
The Creta Electric comes with 4 levels of regenerative braking which can be selected using the paddles behind the steering wheel. The first level is barely noticeable and if you have the car in this mode, you might end up using the brakes a lot. On levels 2 & 3, the braking gets progressively stronger.
On level 4, it is very strong and if you lift off the accelerator, the car will ultimately come to a halt. As mentioned earlier, the car can be driven with the accelerator only on this regen level. Hyundai calls it the i-Pedal function.
Engine-braking lovers will appreciate driving with regen at the maximum level. You can also turn off the regenerative brake if you want.
Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)
As is the case with EVs, the Creta Electric is also super quiet. There’s no engine or gearbox to make any noise. There is no noise or vibration felt on start up or shut down.
The overall driving experience is silent. At low speeds, the car’s pedestrian warning system music (or virtual engine sound system as Hyundai calls it) is heard on the outside. It is not loud and cannot be heard inside the cabin. Tyre noise does creep into the cabin at highway speeds, but the wind noise is kept well in check.
Insulation has been provided under the bonnet:
Range
The Creta Electric Long range has an ARAI-certified range of 473 km. On the test drive, I covered ~170 km and used up 47% of the battery. However, my driving consisted of some aggressive acceleration, fast driving, hard braking and long idling periods. At the end of the drive, I had an indicated 171 km of range left. I am sure that with better driving, one can manage at least 375 km in real-world driving conditions. We will wait for ownership reviews to get a proper picture of the range though.
Given the rising demand for EVs, there are plenty of charging stations popping up everywhere, which ought to take care of range anxiety as well. There are many apps and websites that list out all the charging stations near you. Hyundai itself is setting up charging stations all over the country. At the end of the day though, remember the golden rule = EVs are best charged where they are parked (either at your office or home).
Charging
Hyundai provides a complimentary 11 kW AC wall box charger which can charge the battery from 10% to 100% in 4 hours and 50 minutes. If you’re travelling and need a quick refill, a 50 kW DC fast charger can juice up the battery from 10% to 80% in 58 minutes.
Suspension
Ride Comfort
The Creta Electric gets a MacPherson strut suspension at the front and a coupled torsion beam axle at the rear. The car gets 17-inch alloy wheels shod with 215/60 section low rolling resistance tyres.
While the suspension setup is stiffer than the regular Creta, it is liveable. While you will be aware of the road surface you are travelling on, the low-speed ride is acceptable and the car absorbs small to medium-sized bumps fairly well. Large craters do make their presence felt inside the cabin though. The recommended tyre pressure is a rather high 36 PSI. Dropping the pressure to 32 PSI might help improve the ride.
Handling & Dynamics
In a straight line, the Creta Electric feels stable, at least till 120 km/h. In the corners, the body roll is well-controlled. At legal speeds, the car felt stable while tackling corners with the 215 mm tyres providing good grip. However, at higher speeds, the Good Year Triplemax 2 tyres do not inspire much confidence.
Steering
The electric power steering is a nice unit and easy to operate as well. It is light at city speeds which makes it very user-friendly. As the speed climbs, the EPS weighs up reasonably well. On the highway, the steering feels stable and has no nervousness. That said, we’d have liked a bit more consistent feedback as it provides that additional confidence while entering into a corner.
Braking
The Hyundai Creta Electric has discs at the front and rear. All in all, the car has good stopping power. In our test drive, the car stopped without any drama when the brakes were slammed. However, we feel that grippier tyres can improve the car’s stopping performance.
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