Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd.’s Elantra liquefied-petroleum-gas electric hybrid will roll off the production line next summer, several months ahead of the previously planned launch due to a top management directive, a company executive says.
“We’ve put about 100 LPG Hybrid Elantras through performance tests so far, after beginning the hybrid program in 2002,” Lee Ki-sang, director of the Hyundai Electric-Vehicle Project team, tells Ward’s. “We’re now focusing on calibrations and formal validation of the system.”
As with all of the auto maker’s hybrid-electric vehicles, the technology was developed exclusively by Hyundai. “We have developed everything in-house at the Namyang research center,” Lee says. “We have licensed nothing from any other hybrid developers.”
The Elantra hybrid is powered by a 1.6L LPG-powered engine, which is supported by a 15 kW electric motor with continuously variable transmission. The lithium-ion battery is supplied by LG Chemical Ltd.
There is no fixed retail price for the hybrid as yet. “The cost difference between the gasoline-powered Elantra and the LPG hybrid is a top Hyundai secret,” says Lee. “Our marketing guys are forecasting sales of 15,000 to 20,000 units per year, and we have identified two groups of potential customers.
“One group is energy-conscious people, who want more technology and are focusing on the environment. They constitute about 20% of the projected market. The other 80% are fuel-price oriented buyers.
“You have to appreciate that in Korea gasoline is priced three times higher than in the U.S. LPG is half the price,” he says. “So linking the LPG engine to an electric-hybrid unit provides very substantial fuel savings.”
Additionally, the Elantra LPG hybrid’s fuel economy is 50% better than that of a regular LPG-powered Elantra. Lee does not provide specific numbers because Hyundai still is going through a government certification of the vehicle’s fuel efficiency.
He cautions against using the 50% fuel-economy improvement when comparing the LPG hybrid with an internal combustion, gasoline-powered Elantra, as LPG does not produce the same performance as a comparable unit of gasoline.
Nevertheless, the hybrid’s performance is “substantially better,” he says.
“We cannot announce this very important fuel-economy figure for competitive reasons and because it has not yet been certified by the government.”
The Elantra LPG-hybrid program initially will focus on South Korea, but the China market also looks promising because both countries have excellent LPG infrastructures in place, he says.
The Elantra currently is produced both at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant in Korea and by the auto maker’s joint venture plant in Beijing. So the hybrid can be built in China, as well.
The hybrid models will be assembled on the same line in Ulsan as the gas-engine Elantras. The electric motor, transmission and battery pack will be installed as modules in fully automated operations.
“We have already completed pilot-production tests using these modules,” Lee says.
Meanwhile, Hyundai is seeking government regulations that will provide incentives for hybrids.
“We just had a meeting yesterday, and there are still several different incentive possibilities under discussion,” he says. “We don’t know yet what the 2009 government incentive program will include.”
Hyundai is developing three different hybrid-electric vehicle technologies and will apply all of them in the near future, Lee says. One is the LPG hybrid, in which the electric motor is not powerful enough to fully drive the vehicle and is supported by an engine.
The second HEV system is set to launch on the Sonata in 2010 and features a larger electric motor that can drive the vehicle when the gas engine shuts off.
The system meets all requirements for the U.S. market, where it also will be introduced, Lee says, while declining to discuss technical details of the hybrid drivetrain.
The third system is a plug-in hybrid that uses normal household current to recharge the battery and can operate using the electric motor, alone, over longer distances.
“Some of our major competitors are targeting the 2010-2012 period” to introduce their plug-ins, Lee says. “We will analyze the market trend before we establish our own timing.”
Additionally, Hyundai will begin limited production in Korea of fuel-cell vehicles in 2012, with mass production expected in 2015 or later.
Valuable experience has been gained from an extensive market test of gasoline-hybrid Accents, Lee says, providing essential data for the Elantra LPG-hybrid program.
By the end of the year, Hyundai expects to have 3,500 Accent HEVs undergoing fleet tests by various Korean government agencies, including the ministry of the environment and Seoul city government in a program that began in 2004.
“Our typical gas-powered Accent develops an average 32.5 mpg (7.2 L/100 km),” Lee says, while the hybrid provides a fuel-economy of 46.6 mpg (5 L/100 km).
The Accent HEV is equipped with 1.4L gas engine matched with a 12 kW permanent magnet electric motor and nickel-hydride battery supplied by Panasonic.
Lee says a lot was learned about batteries from an earlier program that involved 50 gas-powered hybrid Getz minicars. That test trial saw Hyundai and its suppliers develop a nickel metal-hybrid battery later used in the Accent HEVs.
“We changed to a lithium polymer battery in some of the test units and verified that it performed better and is more durable,” he says. “We applied this battery to the Elantra program.”
By Vince Courtenay
WardsAuto.com, Apr 18, 2008 10:05 AM
April 29th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Whoa! goodie. its coming next year! It was a long wait but their finally going to take to the stage to compete. best of luck with it Hyundai and of course Kia.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Since my option isnt there in the poll, I’ll answer here. My vote is Mazda.
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:59 am
hey that pic used in this article is an edited pic of Mohave.
May 21st, 2008 at 8:37 pm
This is awesome to know about this technological improvements. I have been waiting for a Hyundai hybrid. Thanks for answering my prayers. I can’t wait for it to come out in the U.S.