Hyundai’s Creta-sized electric SUV for India: Launch details revealed

Hyundai Motor India Ltd recently announced that it plans to launch as many as 8 new vehicles in the next two years. The highlight among these upcoming cars is an electric car that will come to us via the CKD route. YK Koo, MD and CEO, Hyundai India, recently revealed that the first electric car from his company will be an SUV and that it would be launched in the second half of 2019. In all probability, this upcoming India-bound electric car will be the Hyundai Kona compact SUV that made its debut at the Auto Expo 2018.

While the likes of Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Kirloskar Motor have decided to launch hybrid cars before bringing in fully electric vehicles, Koo has said that his company would go either fully electric or not take the electric route at all. With this, it becomes sure that Hyundai isn’t planning to launch a hybrid car in India anytime soon. The Hyundai Kona is likely to cost a rather steep Rs 25 lakh. The company plans to launch the electric SUV in 15 Indian cities. Initially, it will come to us via the CKD route. In the long term, however, the company plans to use its Chennai facility as a manufacturing hub of its electric vehicles. As per the current GST rates, an import duty of 12% is levied on electric cars. However, Koo has maintained that the Indian government should bring it down to 5% in order to allow a faster mass-scale adoption of electric cars.

The Hyundai Kona EV is powered by a 135 hp electric motor that outputs a peak torque of 325 Nm. The fact that all this torque is available instantly makes the Kona pretty quick off the block. As per the company figures, the Kona can sprint to 100 kmph from standstill in just 7.6 seconds. Also, the Kona EV has a claimed range of 325 kms, which is equivalent to what many petrol cars offer. Koo has also revealed that the car will be sold with a home-charging kit to facilitate easy charging of the electric powertrain. The Kona can be fully charged in 6 hours.

Source- Times of India