eBusiness Weekly
Hyundai has become the latest car manufacturer to introduce a dedicated electric car architecture.
Modular in nature, the new architecture, called E-GMP, will underpin a wide range of Hyundai and Kia vehicles of all shapes and sizes.
The most premium of these will offer a driving range of up to 500km between charges, Hyundai says, and there will also be performance derivatives capable of accelerating from 0-100km/h in under 3.5 seconds.
The new electric car plan underscores efforts by Hyundai to become a major player in the global EV market, as carmakers around the world are pouring billions of dollars of investment to improve battery technology, which currently keeps EV prices high compared with combustion engine models.
Market leader Tesla said in September that it aims to halve the cost of its EV batteries and bring more production of this key component in-house to lower electric car prices.
Hyundai expects that its E-GMP platform will allow it to use its own battery module technology across various EV models and cut the number of components by 60 percent.
“E-GMP will be highly effective in expanding the Group’s EV leadership position as it will enable the company to enlarge its EV line-up over a relatively short period through modularisation and standardisation,” it said in a statement.
Hyundai Motor and its sister company Kia Motors together aim to sell 1 million EVs in 2025 to become the world’s third-largest seller of EVs.
It has promised 23 new EVs including 11 all-electric models by 2025 and plans to introduce a family of EVs under the Ioniq brand from early next year to spearhead its near-term transition toward EV production. — Reuters.
