Prospective customers of electric vehicles are more likely to become owners if they are given the opportunity to sample the product on a subscription basis, and with that in mind Hyundai will soon offer a short-term subscription plan for the Ioniq 5 electric vehicle, according to Green Car Reports.
Research conducted by Hyundai Motor America has found that “mobility pioneers”, or people who are more eager to try electric vehicles, were already used to subscription services in many areas of their lives, said Hyundai USA’s vice president for product planning and mobility Olabasi Boyle.
Therefore, one objective with the trialling of subscription plans is to create a service that enables customers to try the Ioniq 5 at a low commitment, with a plan that includes insurance, charging, maintenance and more, said Boyle.
Hyundai has previously offered a subscription-based programme for its American customers, where in 2017 and 2018 it offered the Ioniq Electric in the Ioniq Unlimited programme that bundled charging costs, scheduled maintenance and wear-and-tear parts replacement costs into a single monthly payment.
This was offered at the time with a choice of 24- and 36-month subscription terms, with no cap on mileage. This was discontinued after the 2018 model year, and replaced it in 2019 with lower-priced leases with mileage limits and more conventional lease terms, according to Green Car Reports.
Separately, Hyundai announced earlier this year that it is creating in its home market of South Korea an “ecosystem” around a alternative ownership model for electric vehicle batteries, with consideration for their lifespan beyond the vehicle in order to lower the asking price of EVs which customers will pay, according to the report. This is unrelated to the short-term subscription model in the US, Boyle confirmed.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is the Korean manufacturer’s first model under its Ioniq sub-brand for fully electric vehicles, and the first Hyundai to be built on the firm’s EV-dedicated Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP). The Ioniq 5 made its US market debut towards the end of last month to go on sale in autumn, and will be offered in the US in 225 hp RWD and 320 AWD versions, with a single 77.4 kWh battery option offering up to 483 km of range.
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