2014 Hyundai Elantra Limited on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Hyundai confirms a shift to EVs, unveils fuel cell SUV

SEOUL — Hyundai confirmed on Thursday it was placing electric vehicles at the center of its product strategy — one that includes plans for a premium long-distance electric car as it seeks to catch up to Tesla and other rivals. Like Toyota, Hyundai had initially championed fuel cell technology as the future of eco-friendly vehicles but has found itself shifting to electric as Tesla shot to prominence and battery-powered cars have gained government backing in China. Hyundai's debut of its more modestly priced Ionic hybrid and electric has been well-received. But the pure electric's per-charge driving range is much shorter than the Tesla Model 3 or Chevrolet Bolt. Toyota is now also working on longer-distance, fast-charging electric vehicles. Hyundai first started signaling this strategic shift back in May when it first discussed plans to launch an electric sedan under its high-end Genesis brand in 2021 with a range of 500 km (310 miles) per charge. It will also introduce an electric version of its Kona small crossover with a range of 390 km in the first half of next year. "We're strengthening our eco-friendly car strategy, centering on electric vehicles," Executive Vice President Lee Kwang-guk told a news conference, calling the technology mainstream and realistic. The automaker and affiliate Kia, which together rank fifth in global vehicle sales, also said they were adding three plug-in vehicles to their plans for eco-friendly cars, bringing the total to 31 models by 2020. Underscoring Hyundai's electric shift, those plans include eight battery-powered and two fuel-cell vehicles — a contrast to its 2014 announcement for 22 models, of which only two were slated to be battery-powered. Hyundai also confirmed a Reuters report that it is developing its first scaleable, dedicated electric vehicle platform, which will allow the company to produce multiple models with longer driving ranges. HYDROGEN SUV Hyundai unveiled a near production version of its new fuel cell SUV with a driving range of more than 580 km per charge, compared with the 415 km for its current Tucson fuel cell SUV. The mid-sized SUV will be launched in Korea early next year, followed by U.S. and European markets. A fuel cell electric bus is slated to be unveiled late this year, while a sedan-type fuel cell car is also planned. Even so, analysts noted that gaining traction with fuel cells was going to be a long hard slog partly due to a lack of charging infrastructure.

No N performance models for Genesis, but Hyundai might get a Tucson N

Although Hyundai still hasn't fully revealed its first N product, the i30 N that we will see with an Elantra badge, the company is apparently hard at work at various N-branded follow-ups. The head of the N performance division, Albert Biermann, spoke with Australia's Drive, and revealed some unexpected details about the future of the division. Among the surprises was the revelation that there are no plans for Genesis N models. This is a bit of a shock considering that just last year, Biermann told us that there was a five-year plan in place for N products, and that Genesis vehicles were part of that plan. Among the vehicles that are coming, Biermann said the division is developing a B-segment vehicle and an SUV. The B-segment car is likely the European i20 hatchback. Hyundai uses the i20 for World Rally Championship, so it would only make sense to capitalize on that association. As for the SUV, Drive believes it is the Tucson, since Biermann mentioned the little crossover quite a bit when speaking to the publication. The Tucson would also be the most logical candidate for an N variant, since it's currently the smallest crossover in the Hyundai line-up. As such, it should be the easiest to make sporty, since it's inherently lighter and more maneuverable than other crossovers in the lineup. Biermann also seemingly revealed that the next N-badged car after the i30 N hatchback will be a "fastback" version of the same car, which Drive describes as a coupe. We don't expect this to be a traditional compact coupe, though. Last year, AutoEvolution reported that Hyundai would release a coupe-like five-door version of the i30 in the vein of the Audi A7 and A5 Sportbacks. This also seems more likely than a traditional coupe since Hyundai ceded the segment to the Civic with the death of the previous Elantra coupe in 2015, and its Kia Forte Koup cousin this year. Related Video:

Autoblog Podcast #391

Episode #391 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Mike Harley and Brandon Turkus talk about the appointment of Kumar Galhotra to run Lincoln, changes coming for Scion, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, and which cars won't live into 2015. We also take a quick detour to talk about the Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge prototype, which Mike Harley just came back from driving. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #391: Topics: 2015 Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Prototype New boss at Lincoln Scion xB, iQ ending soon Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Cars that won't live to 2015 In the Autoblog Garage: McLaren 650S Hyundai Genesis Hosts: Dan Roth, Michael Harley, Brandon Turkus Runtime: 01:42:06 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge - 30:05 Kumar Galhotra to Lincoln - 34:32 Scion Changes - 43:58 Dodge Charger Hellcat - 54:25 Discontinued Cars - 01:06:24 Q&A - 01:22:59 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Podcasts Dodge Hyundai Infiniti Lincoln McLaren Scion Supercars mclaren 650s