There’s no question that Hyundai Motor Group has doubled down on electrification. The proof of that is it’s one of the first to develop a platform specifically for battery-electric vehicles and a 400/800-volt charging architecture. In an interview with Automotive News, Hyundai CEO Jaehoon Chang revealed that EVs are now a priority at the Korean giant’s three nameplates. Additionally, he also confirmed that there are more vehicles to follow the Ioniq models.
In total, there will be 13 battery-electric models by 2026 for the Hyundai brand alone but not all are coming to North America. Chang also disclosed to Automotive News that the company is developing a new platform to be used alongside the E-GMP architecture, which is used mainly on larger vehicles. The product development schedule is also being shortened, which is the reason why there are so many new models coming. Hyundai is currently fine-tuning its strategy to make sure it can expand its EV volume.
As part of its EV offensive, Chang also revealed that Hyundai will keep its current internal combustion engines as it transitions to a fully electrified lineup. Bridging the two technologies will be hybrids, which Chang says will play an important role as Hyundai makes the switch. The company will continue to develop hybrid systems for the foreseeable future. This shouldn’t take too much out of Hyundai’s research and development budget since the electric motors and batteries for EVs and hybrids can be jointly developed.
Across all three brands, Hyundai Motor Group is targeting 1 to 1.7 million EV sales globally. Between Hyundai and Genesis, the company is expecting to sell 220,000 EVs, an increase of 56 percent over 2021. Europe will be the market where Hyundai will be most aggressive with electrification as it intends to make 70 percent of its sales made up of zero-emissions vehicles by 2030. In 2035, that will increase to 100 percent in the European market as Hyundai aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. Chang said that the U.S. will follow but didn’t say anything other than the company has an ambitious target by 2025. He did note that by 2030, EVs will make up 50 percent of Hyundai’s sales in the U.S. as a response to the Biden administration’s policies.
Crossovers will make up the bulk of sales, particularly in the U.S. It recently launched the first E-GMP-based model, the Ioniq 5, in North America. Following that will be the Ioniq 6, a sedan aimed squarely at the Tesla Model 3. The Seven Concept that debuted at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show will eventually morph into the production Ioniq 7, a three-row crossover that will likely be the most crucial EV for Hyundai in the North American market. Ten more EVs will follow, many of which will be on the E-GMP platform and the second architecture that Chang mentioned.
Hyundai’s EV offensive is part of a broader initiative that involves all three brands under the group’s umbrella. Kia will have nine vehicles including the EV6 that recently debuted, the production version of the Concept EV9, and four commercial vehicles. Genesis, on the other hand, will have a total of eight EVs including the GV60, Electrified G80, and Electrified GV70, the latter of which will be the first Genesis model to be assembled in the U.S.
