If the news from the past few weeks were any indication, we were pretty sure it was just Tata and Mahindra who were serious about electric cars in India but today’s announcement by Hyundai has us all wrong. Hyundai will bring the Hyundai IONIQ electric car in India sometime later next year which will compete with the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and the Prius. The IONIQ electric sedan was launched globally by Hyundai last year.
Hyundai IONIQ comes in three variants –Electric, Plug-in Hybrid and Hybrid
The Hyundai IONIQ electric car available globally comes in three variants which are electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid. Since the car is definitely coming to India, industry experts believe that Hyundai will launch the hybrid version of the IONIQ sedan first. The sedan may also become Hyundai’s first fully electric car in India and join the EV bandwagon.
Company officials said that they won’t be bringing the Hyundai IONIQ via the CBU route and will focus on heavy localisation to keep the price low. The global version of IONIQ sold by Hyundai comes with a 1.4-litre Kappa Atkinson cycle engine which produces a peak power of 104BHP and a total of 148nm of torque while the electric motor puts out a limited 32PS only. The electric car will compete with the Honda Accord hybrid, Toyota Prius and the Camry.
There are also rumours of Hyundai IONIQ coming as a brand for introducing electric vehicles in all the segments that they are present. This will put Hyundai head to head with their rivals Maruti Suzuki who have already joined hands with Toyota for bringing electric cars to India.
Hyundai IONIQ: Launch and Price In India
The Hyundai IONIQ will be showcased at the Auto Expo in 2018 in Delhi but the car may not go on sale before 2019 because Hyundai does not want to bring the IONIQ in India via the CBU route to attract heavy taxes. The Korean automaker will be looking to set up a production facility for electric cars in India itself so that it is able to undercut the prices of Honda Accord and Toyota Prius. Hyundai IONIQ will be priced close to 25 lakh Rupees in India and is targeting at 100 units a month.
Source: OverDrive
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