Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) today announced that the company's award-winning Ioniq 5 electric vehicle will be launched in India later this year as part of its plans to introduce six EVs in India by 2028. It is expected to arrive after the market debut of its sibling, the Kia EV6 crossover, whose pre-bookings are likely to happen towards the end of May. Ioniq 5 was recently crowned the World Car of the Year (WCOTY) 2022. The Hyundai Ioniq is expected to give rise to a range of future EVs in the coming years, and it will be offered in limited numbers after its launch here.
Ioniq 5 is built on Hyundai Motor Group’s Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), an innovative system that was exclusively developed for next-generation battery electric vehicles. The term IONIQ is a fusion of 'ion' and 'unique', that was announced as a long-term research and development project focusing on sustainable mobility.
This is what Hyundai India MD said
Unsoo Kim, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motor India Limited, said: “Hyundai is proud to receive the World Car of the Year 2022 for the Ioniq 5 as this award is a true testament to our vision and efforts in driving the adoption of BEVs globally. Hyundai Motor India has already committed to the expansion of our BEV line-up to 6 models by 2028 and today, with great pride we are announcing the introduction of Ioniq 5 in CY 22 in India."
Ioniq 5 will epitomize the innovative application of intelligent technology in mobility. With our 25-year journey of togetherness in India, Hyundai is happy to partner with this great nation on a new quest to charge up the adoption of EVs at scale, he added.
The much-feted Ioniq 5 has retro-futiristic looks, a clean and roomy cabin replete with sustainable materials, and is loaded with connectivity and tech interfaces. It has two variants. One uses a 58 kWh battery - and spawns rear wheel drive variants. According to market speculations, this is the car that will debut in India. The longer range 72.6 kWh battery model with AWD options can arrive later.
Hyundai, for the record, was the first to bring a contemporary EV in India with the Kona Electric in 2019. But did not seem to pursue it with its usual diligence.
By 2028, the Hyundai range in India will comprise six BEVs (battery electric vehicles) across different segments and body styles, including SUV, sedan and CUV (Compact utility vehicle). The company will modify existing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle platforms for the new EVs it seeks to introduce here. Hyundai's factory at Sriperumbudur near Chennai can support the production of EV vehicles. How much of it will be put to use for the new project is not known as of now. But it is said that Hyundai will expand the production capacity at this plant. But a lot depends on how its new EVs perform in the market.
Globally, Hyundai plans to introduce 17 new BEV models by 2030, including Genesis luxury brand models, and aims to boost annual global BEV sales to 1.87 million units by 2030.
