Hyundai Motor launches its first electric sedan, and accepts Tesla

SEOUL, July 14 (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) on Thursday launched its first electric sedan, the Ioniq 6, which the South Korean carmaker is aiming to help take a larger share of the dominated electric vehicle market ( EV). by Tesla Inc.

Ioniq 6 is one of more than 31[ads1] electric models that Hyundai Motor Group – including Hyundai Motor, its sister company Kia Corp (000270.KS) and the premium brand Genesis – plans to introduce through 2030 to ensure an estimated 12% of the global electric car market.

Hyundai’s sedan will expand the EV range beyond the current crossovers and SUVs to compete head-to-head against Tesla’s best-selling Model 3 sedan.

Hyundai and Kia were already the second largest EV handlers globally except China in January to May this year, with an overall market share of 13.5% which was second after Tesla at 22%, according to industry tracking SNE Research.

Ioniq 6 will be priced in the range of 55 million won ($ 41,949.51) to 65 million won for the South Korean market.

“Ioniq 6 will be able to compete with Tesla in the volume EV sedan sector, given its competitive prices and long range,” said Lee Jae-il, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities.

Ioniq 6 can take advantage of the prices on the EV sedan market because Tesla has increased the prices several times, he added.

Hyundai electric sedans will have a range of around 610 kilometers (380 miles), around 30% more than the Ioniq 5 crossover, Hyundai said.

“We use the same (battery) cell chemistry, but … we maximized the amount of batteries per package, and significantly improved energy density,” said Kim Yong Wha, Executive Vice President of Hyundai.

It comes in two battery packs – 53 kilowatts per hour (kWh) and 77.4 kWh – and will begin production at the Asan plant in South Korea later this year, Hyundai said.

Ioniq 6 will be available in South Korea this year, and the US market launch is expected in the first quarter of next year, it added.

Hyundai said that the Ioniq 6 launched this year would pick up batteries from SK Innovations (096770.KS) SK On and LG Energy Solutions (373220.KS) batteries will be used from next year.

The launch comes after Hyundai announced its plans to build dedicated electric car systems both at home and in the US, where the Ioniq 5 and Kia’s EV 6 SUV together became the second best-selling electric car after Tesla cars and ahead of Ford Motor Co (000270). KS) Mustang Mach-E.

($ 1 = 1 311 1000 won)

Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Jamie Freed

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