Hyundai will use the L.A. auto show in November to show its first hybrid vehicle, says John Krafcik, vice president for product development at Hyundai Motor America.
Hyundai has already said it plans to start selling an Elantra in Korea in July 2009 as the automaker’s first LPG-electric hybrid vehicle. That will make it the first hybrid powered by “liquid petroleum gas” (or just plain old gas!) and the first to use what it calls “advanced lithium polymer” or Li-Poly batteries.
In North America, Hyundai’s first hybrid will be a Sonata, due to launch in 2010, likely as a 2011 model. It will be a full hybrid, meaning it can run on electricity alone at low speed and for a limited distance. Krafcik describes it as Hyundai’s unique version of a two-mode or parallel hybrid system designed to operate at peak efficiency in both city and highway driving. The Sonata hybrid will not be plug-in.
The L.A. unveil will actually be a rolling chassis with a system that uses lithium-ion technology, Krafcik says. Hyundai will use the auto show to outline a number of planned green initiatives.
