The Hyundai Ioniq is available as Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid and EV. The car, together with the Kia Niro, symbolizes the policy of the Hyundai Motor Group, which deliberately and more than many competitors bet on all possible powertrains. Now, but also in the future.
Petrol, diesel, mild hybrid, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and even hydrogen: Hyundai Motor has one or more examples of every conceivable drive type. This means that the Koreans take a different course than many other car companies, where they specifically focus on fully electric cars or, in the case of Toyota, for example, hybrids. What happens at Hyundai is similar to shooting with hail, but according to David Labrosse it is a well thought out policy. Labrosse is Head of Product Planning at Hyundai Motor Europe’s Technical Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany, and does not believe in a fully electric future for the time being. “On the one hand, full commitment to electric vehicles is necessary, because the car industry must be completely CO2 neutral by 2050. However, there are a lot of objections. For example, that objective not only demands something from the car industry, but also from the way in which energy is generated. ” LaBrosse also points to our country: “I am actually surprised that it is precisely in the Netherlands, where EVs are stimulated so intensively, that energy is generated in a relatively polluting manner.”
Commodities
However, LaBrosse sees more bears on the way to a fully electric fleet, such as the production of batteries. This already proves to be a huge challenge: “In 2018, the car industry consumed about as many batteries as all other industries combined. We expect to need thirty times as many batteries by 2030. ” Even then, the share of pure EVs is relatively small: “thirty times more batteries still means that only twenty percent of the cars are fully electric.” In addition, some raw materials are simply difficult to obtain, or not without causing a lot of suffering in a certain area. “It is also not the intention to make the air cleaner in Western Europe, while other countries suffer from it,” says the European product planner. If the goal is to cover as many electric kilometers as possible, plug-in hybrids are an excellent alternative, according to Hyundai. After all, with PHEVs the same amount of batteries can be used to operate many more cars, while according to the Koreans an electric range of about 60 km is enough to cover most of the kilometers electrically.
Mix
Hyundai thinks that it has sufficient reasons to stick to the current mix for the foreseeable future, which, as mentioned, is unique in its diversity. Even diesel may remain for a while, and is certainly mentioned for Europe as a permanently good and now also relatively clean solution for those who drive a lot of long distances. Although the transition to electric in the Netherlands is going smoothly, the perception of the customer at global level still appears to be a last and difficult obstacle to take. “The customer must also be ready to switch to electric. After all, as a car manufacturer, we ultimately build what the market demands. ”