At least four planned this year on E-GMP platform
Chair expects L3 autonomous by next year
The Chair of Hyundai Motor Group is calling 2021 an important year for the company. The executive said that the company will use the year to transform “into a new growth engine” and that it will work on becoming an EV “powerhouse” with more dedicated platform electric vehicles.
2021 should be the year in which we kick-start our great transformation into a new growth engine,” said Charman Euisun Chung earlier this week during a New Year’s message for employees of the group.
“In the post-pandemic era, social values and lifestyles different from the past will prevail,” Chung said. “And as a result, only those companies prepared for continuous transformations will survive and grow.”
Hyundai Group (which includes Kia and Genesis) will be launching vehicles based on the new E-GMP platform this year, their new electric platform designed for vehicles sold around the world. Dedicated EVs on that platform set for this year include the Hyundai Ioniq 5, a Kia EV crossover, and “crossover electric vehicles” from Genesis, though no word on exactly how many.
E-GMP will allow charging at 400V or 800V, and Hyundai says vehicles riding on it will have a max range of more than 500 km on the WLTP cycle. 100 km of range in five minutes will be possible thanks to 800V charging. Hyundai Motor Group says it plans to have 23 BEV models on sale by 2025 (up from eight now) and hit one miliion annual sales.
“We will realize the safest and most innovative mobility technology in the world by strengthening our autonomous driving, connectivity and software capabilities,” said Chung. The automaker group expects Level 3 autonomous driving tech in mass production next year and robotaxi services in 2023.
