How Hyundai Plans To Launch Its First Extended-Range EVs

• Hyundai will join Scout Motors, Ram, Ford and many Chinese automakers in offering extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs.
• EREVs use an EV platform with a large lithium-ion battery, but add a gas engine to recharge that battery and offer additional range.
• But Hyundai’s CEO said the priority with EREVs will be larger vehicles, following the pattern seen by other automakers.

Hyundai is the latest automaker to bet on an old-school technology to boost electric-vehicle adoption: the gas engine. And when it launches its first extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) in 2027 with added power from fossil fuels, the Korean automaker will follow a familiar pattern. 

Hyundai’s EREVs will primarily be used on “larger vehicles,” Hyundai Motor Company CEO José Muñoz said at a media briefing last week after its annual investor conference. At that event, Hyundai offered a few key new facts about its EREV program, including a target of 600 miles of range, “EV-like” driving experiences and a smaller battery than many of its conventional EVs.

But the platform won’t be used for smaller vehicles, Muñoz said.

“We see them more useful for larger vehicles, because basically, you remove your range anxiety, and then you can, you can get [the] longer distances which are driven by the American consumer,” Muñoz said.

He added that the utilization Hyundai sees with many of its EV customers, especially in California, is day-to-day commuting. “They save money on gas, and then [we see] the model of using it in the day and charging overnight, very simple, like your phone. So no problem.”

But Muñoz added, “If you want to go for a long weekend and you have to make a lot of miles, you have certain anxiety, because you don’t know if the charger is going to work, etc, etc. So then you need a different technology.” 

Hyundai is actually taking two approaches there, he said. One is expanding owners’ fast-charging access by being a partner in the Ionna network along with several other automakers, and adopting the Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug type from the factory. The other approach, Muñoz said, is to branch into EREVs for people who crave more long-distance driving. 

Photo by: InsideEVs

What form that will take at Hyundai remains to be seen. The automaker has not announced any specific models that will use its forthcoming EREV platform. Past rumors have indicated possible EREV pickup trucks and variants of the Hyundai Santa Fe and Genesis GV70, but that’s far from official. 

In doing so, Hyundai would join several other automakers in adopting the EREV approach for larger vehicles. Scout Motors announced the “Harvester” EREV to go with its electric trucks and SUVs, and has said that customer orders overwhelmingly favor that version over the all-EV one. Ram recently canceled an all-electric pickup truck to focus on an EREV version instead. And Ford CEO Jim Farley has said his company needs to get into the EREV game because, in his words, “Americans love their big cars. They love their big trucks.”

While plug-in hybrids are essentially gas vehicles with EV-style components, EREVs work in reverse—they’re EVs where the gas engine only exists to recharge the battery. While earlier small vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt and BMW i3 would be considered EREVs today, the technology is now mostly being applied to bigger vehicles, especially in China. EREV platforms are catching on quickly there for larger SUVs. 

Large electric SUVs and trucks require big batteries to achieve their desired range. But then they run into issues with towing and hauling, which can be key activities for those owners. Thus, EREVs are seen as a potential way to mitigate the need for a massive battery pack and assuage customers’ range fears. Over time, the gas engine could even be deleted from these platforms as the charging infrastructure grows.

Additionally, Muñoz said that Hyundai is counting on hybrids and hybrid-type vehicles like EREVs if the United States—its most important market—sees a downturn in all-electric sales as tax credits and fuel economy penalties go away. That’s why its new Georgia Metaplant is designed to be flexible in what it produces, he said. 

“I think by by 2030, you will see a good balance, I would say roughly 50/50, between hybrids and EVs,” Muñoz said. Whether that will include EREVs too someday remains to be seen, but if Muñoz is banking on them being a hit with Americans, it could be a no-brainer. 

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com