Hyundai has announced it will be developing new range extender electric vehicles to bridge the gap to full electrification, amid slowing demand for full battery electric vehicles. This confirmation came as part of its 2024 CEO Investor Day today, where it unveiled a new mid- to long-term strategy called the “Hyundai Way”.
The new range extender EVs will come with all-wheel drive thanks to dual electric motors, using a new powertrain and power electronics (PT/PE) system to deliver a combined range of over 900 km. As is typical for these types of vehicles, propulsion will come solely through the aforementioned motors, with the internal combustion engine used solely for generating electricity to charge the battery.
Hyundai plans to install these powertrains in Hyundai and Genesis D-segment SUVs in the US and C-segment models in China by the end of 2026, with sales targets of over 80,000 and 30,000 units respectively. Aside from that, the company is also looking to expand its hybrid lineup with the introduction of its second-generation Tranmission Mounted Electric Device (TMED-II) in January next year, said to offer increased performance and fuel efficiency compared to existing models.
These models will come with features borrowed from its full EVs, such as adaptive regenerative braking and vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality. Under this strategy, Hyundai aims to expand its existing compact and midsize hybrid vehicle lineup to also include small, large and luxury vehicles, effectively doubling the amount of models from seven to 14. This will include the Genesis brand, which will offer a hybrid option for all its cars save for pure EVs.
With this, Hyundai plans to substantially boost sales of hybrid models by over 40% to 1.33 million units by 2028, thanks to an anticipated surge of demand – especially in North America where it aims to sell 690,000 hybrid vehicles by 2030. The company’s rejigging of its electrification plans is part of its “dynamic capabilities,” enabling it to respond to market conditions flexibly.
The pivoting towards hybrids and range extender EVs is in stark contrast to its hitherto heavy BEV push with its Ioniq sub-brand, introduced at the start of the decade. Hyundai still plans to expand its BEV lineup but is only looking to offer a full range of models by 2030, when it expects demand to recover. The company is aiming to launch 21 BEV models by then.
That’s not to say the company will be standing still over the next six years, with more Genesis EV models planned – including high-performance premium EVs as previewed by the GV60 Magma concept. Hyundai also said it will expand development of next-generation batteries, such as solid-state packs, at its new battery research building within the Uiwang Research Institute, set to open at the end of the year.
In the meantime, the carmaker is set to implement cell-to-body (CTB) technology – the kind we will see in the forthcoming Proton eMas 7, integrating the battery into the body structure to reduce weight by 10%. Also planned is a cheaper nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery to make EVs more affordable, with an anticipated battery performance improvement of over 20% by 2030 through increased energy density.
Battery safety is another area where Hyundai has strived to improve, adding AI-based battery life management functions to its battery management system (BMS), a safety structure to prevent heat transfer between battery cells, and an advanced cooling system to suppress thermal runaway fires, the latter set to be implemented by 2026.
In terms of in-car tech, Hyundai is developing a new infotainment system based on the Android Automotive OS – set to be introduced in the first half of 2026 – along with its own Android-based open OS and car app market, plus a range of centre touchscreens with various aspect ratios.
A conversational voice control system based on a “super” large language model is also in the works, as is a Digital Cockpit featuring a next-gen user interface. Meanwhile, Hyundai’s autonomous driving tech will be improved with the addition of an end-to-end deep learning model that performs perception, judgment, and control all at once. This will be applied as a scalable global solution, with autonomous capabilities ranging from Level 2+ to Level 4.
All this is in service of growing global sales of Hyundai models to 5.55 million units by 2030, including a target of selling two million EVs. To support this, the company is looking to add one million units of production capacity by then, with the opening of a new “metaplant” in Georgia, US and a dedicated EV factory in Ulsan, South Korea, along with the recent acquisition of a facility in Pune, India.
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