SEOUL, July 14 (BNA) Hyundai Motor Co. has launched its first electric sedan, the Ioniq 6, which the South Korean automaker is betting will help it capture a larger share of the Tesla-dominated electric vehicle (EV) market.
The Ioniq 6 is one of more than 31 electric models that Hyundai Motor Group – including Hyundai Motor, its sister company Kia Corp and luxury brand Genesis – plans to offer through 2030 to secure 12% of the global electric vehicle market, Reuters reported.
Hyundai’s sedan will expand its electric range beyond current crossovers and SUVs to go head-to-head against Tesla’s best-selling Model 3 sedan.
Hyundai and Kia were already the world’s second-largest electric vehicle chargers excluding China in January-May this year, with a combined market share of 13.5% that ranked second after Tesla at 22%, according to industry tracker SNE Research.
The Ioniq 6 will be priced in the range of 55 million won ($41,949.51) to 65 million won for the South Korean market.
“The Ioniq 6 will be able to compete with Tesla in the high-volume sedan segment, given its competitive pricing and long driving range,” said Lee Jae-il, analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities.
He added that the Ioniq 6 could benefit from its pricing in the sedan market because Tesla raised prices several times.
Hyundai said the Hyundai electric sedan has a driving range of about 610 kilometers (380 miles), about 30% more than the Ioniq 5 crossover.
“We use the same cell (battery) chemistry but … we maximized the amount of batteries per pack, which greatly boosted energy density,” said Kim Young-wha, Hyundai executive vice president.
Hyundai said it will come with two options of battery packs – 53 kWh and 77.4 kWh – and will start production at the Asan plant in South Korea later this year.
She added that the Ioniq 6 will be available in South Korea this year and is expected to be launched in the US market in the first quarter of next year.
Hyundai said the Ioniq 6 launched this year will release batteries from SK On’s SK Innovation and will use LG Energy Solution batteries from next year.
The launch comes after Hyundai announced plans to build dedicated EV plants both at home and in the US, with the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV 6 SUV together becoming the second best-selling electric vehicle after Tesla and ahead of Ford Motor Co.’s Mustang Mach. -E.
HF