JOIN USHyundai launches electric i10 car
“Hyundai i10 Electric is an all-electric zero-emission vehicle that reconciles motoring with the environmental aspirations of customers looking for a vehicle with the best possible ecological footprint,” Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) Director (Marketing and Sales) Arvind Saxena told newspersons at the unveiling of the eco-friendly car at the Auto Expo here.
Further he said, Hyundai will consider introducing electric vehicles soon in the Indian market as demand for such cars is increasing gradually. “With the eco-friendly car emerging as the choice of the consumers we hope that the heightened interest in electric vehicles will present us with a huge opportunity to bring in this technology to the Indian market in the near future,” Saxena said.
However, he declined to give any time-frame as to when the electric vehicles would be introduced in India. The i10 electric was first unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September last year and the company plans to produce the car in limited numbers for the South Korean market from this year.
Negligible competition
Currently, only Reva produces electric cars for the Indian market. “As part of its initiative to promote eco-friendly and non-polluting means of transport, Hyundai already has a strong line-up of best-selling models with alternate fuel technology like Santro CNG and LPG, Accent CNG and LPG and i10 CNG in India,” Saxena said. The unveiling of the i10 Electric further reconfirms Hyundai’s commitment to develop environmentally friendly cars for the global automobile market, he said.
Powered by 49 kWh electrical motor and a 16 kWh battery, the i10 Electric uses battery based on advanced LiPoly (Lithium-Ion-Polymer) technology. “This evolved battery technology gives the i10 Electric a driving range of 160 km on a single charge with a top speed of 130 km per hour,” a company official claimed.
The i10 Electric offers dual recharging cycles. Charging at home through a 220V outlet is estimated to take approximately five hours for a 100 per cent capacity. With a 413V outlet—an industrial strength current—the battery can be recharged up to 85 per cent of its capacity within 15 minutes, the company claimed.