- Hyundai unveils the BlueOn, the automaker's first electric vehicle.
- BlueOn is spun off of the i10 hatchback sold in Europe.
- Hyundai has no immediate plans to market the BlueOn in the U.S.
SEOUL, South Korea — With the Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi i MiEV in the crosshairs, Hyundai on Thursday rolled out the BlueOn, its first pure electric car. The Korean automaker said in a statement that it has invested about $34 million in the past year to create the BlueOn, which is spun off of the i10 hatchback sold in Europe.
When contacted by Inside Line, Hyundai Motor America said it had no immediate information on any U.S. rollout plans for the BlueOn. "It's a test fleet in the Korea domestic market," said Miles Johnson, a Hyundai U.S. spokesman.
In a statement, Hyundai Motor said it is "planning to provide 30 BlueOn vehicles as test fleets to various government organizations in Korea by October. These vehicles will be mainly used to help develop and test charging infrastructures for about two years, until August 2012. Furthermore, these cars will be used for promotional purposes, starting with the upcoming G20 summit, to boost Korea's eco-friendly image."
Hyundai did not disclose a price for the BlueOn, which is slightly smaller than the Nissan Leaf in overall length and width. The Korean EV can run 87 miles on a single charge and has a maximum speed of 80 mph, the company said. The BlueOn is powered by batteries using lithium-ion polymer technology with a capacity of 16.4 kWh, the automaker said.
At the very least, Hyundai will be lagging a couple of years behind Nissan in rolling out a pure EV. The 2011 Nissan Leaf will be released in a handful of U.S. markets in December.
Inside Line says: Hyundai may be late to the EV party, but it is in the rearview mirror right now. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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hako says:
06:28 PM, 09/12/2010
Hyundai is looking to the long-term, and unlike some of their competitors, they don't seem defensive when facing criticism. Instead, they actually listen to feed-back, and use it to fine hone their products. Hyundai is an emerging force, but its the future they have their eye fixed firmly on. This car quickly surpassed.
alex38 says:
06:10 PM, 09/09/2010
agree with allbook..."late" is a relative term. These specs look ho-hum at first but wouldn't be surprised to see HMC step it up in a relatively short period of time.
Hyundai has certainly raised the automotive bar over the past few years so I'd expect to see more class leading products from them in the coming years..
albook says:
02:22 PM, 09/09/2010
Late to the EV party? What the Hell? Nissan is the only brand in the US to have one. And in the world there has to be like 4-5 other brands?
On a more calm note, Hyundai is taking over the game. This is a smart move; they can work out the kinks of their EV technology over seas, then bring it over in about 5 years. All while their Sonata is the number six best selling vehicle in the US....