Earlier this year, we brought you stationary spyshots of the upcoming Hyundai AE HEV – a dedicated hybrid model that has the Toyota Prius firmly in its crosshairs. Now, a test mule has been captured by our spy photographers, showing the car frolicking about in the snow as it undergoes winter testing.
While not many aesthetic details can be gathered from the camouflaged prototype, the Hyundai AE HEV appears to have adopted that odd, wedge-shaped outlook that the Prius has so successfully pulled off. It even appears to ride on similar turbine-esque wheels, available on earlier versions of the Prius.
The car is designed from the ground-up as a standalone hybrid model. With that said, as far as existing platforms go, the Hyundai AE HEV is heavily rumoured to possess the same underpinnings as the new-generation Hyundai Elantra. As for its clinical nomenclature, ‘AE’ could be an internal model code while ‘HEV’ is likely to stand for ‘Hybrid Electric Vehicle’.
Decisions regarding the car’s powerplants have yet to be finalised but company insiders are indicating that the AE HEV could arrive powered by a combination of a 1.6 litre petrol engine and an electric motor in a parallel setup, with juice being provided by a compact lithium-ion battery.
The Korean automaker is slated to give the AE HEV its global debut some time in 2016 before the model goes on sale not long after. Word on the grapevine also indicates a plug-in hybrid model as well as a multitude of body styles to follow not long after its launch.
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