Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s biggest car maker, on Thursday unveiled the electric version of its Kona subcompact sport utility vehicle (SUV) in a stepped-up drive to diversify its lineup with environmentally friendly vehicles.
Amid the rapid growth in the domestic electric vehicle market in recent years, Hyundai Motor is planning to beef up its lineup with more emission-free models, Hyundai Motor Executive Vice President Lee Kwang-guk said in a press conference.
The local electric car market grew to 13,826 units sold in 2017 from 5,914 units a year earlier. The growth was mainly driven by strong sales of Hyundai’s Ioniq Electric car, he said.
The company aims to sell more than 12,000 of the electric vehicle (EV) models in the domestic market this year. It has already received preorders for over 18,000 units of the small electrified crossover, the company said in a statement. The preorders were received from Jan. 15.
A Kona EV model with a 64-kWh battery was unveiled at the EV Trend Korea 2018 exhibition held in southern Seoul. It has a range of 406 kilometers (252 miles) on a single charge. The model bearing a 39.2-kWh battery can travel 254 km per charge, it said, Yonhap reported.
