Hyundai Will Release Electric Car with 200 Miles of Range in 2018; 250 Miles of Range in 2020
With the introduction of a battery-electric version of the Ioniq in the US later this year, Hyundai is making it a priority to expand its portfolio of electric vehicles before the decade is out. But the company is ready for much more: Hyundai forecasts that it will have an EV with a 250-mile single-charge range by the year 2020.
Ahn Byung-ki, director of eco-vehicle development at Hyundai Motor Group, said that although the rate of technological improvement in electric cars has been slow over the last six years, innovation will quicken now that brands are facing increasing pressure from China (according to Byung-ki they have “almost 200” EV companies) and stiff competition from rivals like Tesla.
“Electrical vehicles are changing real fast. From a conventional perspective, two years or maybe a year-and-a-half is not really a long time,” Byung-ki said in an interview last week at Hyundai’s Namyang Research & Development Center in Seoul, South Korea. “But in the EV business, it is a pretty long time. We have to be ready for the new generation every two years.”
The Ioniq is Hyundai’s response to that pressure. The all-electric version will be offered in both hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions. The Ioniq will deliver a fully charged range of 110 miles and will go on sale in November of this year. To keep pace with an ever-more voracious market, Hyundai has already begun plans for a new EV with a 200-mile range for 2018 and another with a range approaching 250 miles by 2020.
By the year 2020, Hyundai Motor Group will introduce 28 new eco-vehicles across its Hyundai, Genesis and Kia brands. The rollout will cover 10 traditional hybrids, eight plug-in hybrids, eight EVs and two fuel cell vehicles. The automaker is even considering a luxury EV entry for the Genesis brand.
Currently, Hyundai’s only electric offering in the US is the Kia Soul EV, which has a single-charge range of 93 miles. Most US drivers travel less than 40 miles each day so the Soul will suit them just fine. Of course, that’s not stopping Hyundai from pushing forward with further innovations.
For now, the company believes that the automotive industry has not yet communicated the advantages and differences of plug-in vehicles to customers. As Hyundai prepares to flood the market with EV models in the next few years, expect plenty of information and educational materials to come from dealerships and in commercials. “We know there is lots of education necessary,” said Chris Hosford, Hyundai’s corporate communications executive director, in an interview earlier this month.
Do you have questions about the efficiency and functionality of electric vehicles? Rosen Hyundai is here to help. Stop by and we’ll answer all the questions you have. Why not take the one of our Sonata hybrids out for a spin while you’re at it?
