Hyundai to join rivals in offering an all-electric carMarch 11, 2014 - 19:07 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Hyundai will join rivals in offering an all-electric car, the first from the company, come 2016, having previously focused the brand's eco-friendly attentions on fuel-cell models. Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai, has pushed the group's electric car message in what Senior VP Lee Ki-sang describes as a "dividing" of roles so far. That division, however, is due to change, even though EV sales in Korea are miniscule, SlashGear reports. "There is no clear direction about which eco-friendly cars will win," said Lee Ki-sang, who heads up the joint division responsible for zero-emission models at Hyundai and Kia. "We are dividing the roles of Hyundai and Kia, with Hyundai launching fuel cell cars and Kia focusing on electric cars." As of 2016, though, Hyundai will launch its first battery powered EV, though it probably won't look like the bizarre E4U "egg" concept for personal-mobility it showed off last year, pictured above. Meanwhile, "the time will come when Kia will introduce a fuel-cell car" the senior exec continued. While Kia has offered an EV - the Ray EV - in Korea since 2012, sales of the green model have been conservative, and exports non-existent. Sales of all-EV cars like the Ray EV, Renault's SM3 EV, and Chevrolet's Spark in the country reached just 713 vehicles in 2013, though end-user sales have not been the primary focus, SlashGear says. Instead, the Ray EV has targeted government use and car-sharing schemes. That will change as of the Kia Soul EV, which will be offered in the U.S. and Europe from this fall. Kia hopes the all-electric version will sell around 5,000 units worldwide in 2014. Range is expected to be around 92 miles per roughly half-hour of fast charging (or four hours of regular charging). Related links: Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. |