Hyundai's new platform is key to million-sales target

LOS ANGELES — Hyundai Motor has been teasing plans to spend big on electric vehicles, with a goal of 1 million EV sales a year in 2025. Now the metal behind that plan is coming into focus.

The Hyundai brand wants to be the No. 3 maker of eco-friendly vehicles globally, while Kia is planning 11 EV models and the Korean automaker's burgeoning Genesis luxury line has an electric arriving next year.

After talking generally about its game plan for several months, the group is now talking about the next-generation of electric vehicles it will deliver to meet those lofty goals, including the launch of an EV subbrand Hyundai calls Ioniq.

Hyundai plans to roll out the first EV on its new global modular platform, called E-GMP. That platform will yield the Ioniq 5 midsize crossover for the U.S. late next year, a sedan called the Ioniq 6 in 2022 and the Ioniq 7 large SUV two years later.

The plan is an aggressive step forward to produce mainstream-size EVs, rather than the smaller ones it sells now.

The new models will face stiff competition when they arrive. On the crossover front, Tesla's Model Y is selling well, Ford's Mustang Mach-E goes on sale in the fall, Volkswagen's ID4 could come late this year, and Nissan's Ariya is slated for next year.

But market analysts say Hyundai should not be underestimated in the development of next-generation electric vehicles, given its resources and penchant for moving quickly to capture new segments. Nor should Kia and Genesis, which will share much of Hyundai's new EV technology while carving out their own style.

The group's current EV models, led by the Hyundai Kona and Kia Niro, have racked up industry awards. The Kona EV has 100,000 sales globally in two years. That's not a huge number, but the Hyundai group has been known to scale rapidly.

"I feel like the Korean automakers have gotten the EV thing down," said industry analyst Karl Brauer. "It's so common with them. It doesn't seem like they are major players in a type of vehicle or a segment, and they just jump in and the industry is generally impressed."

Brauer has spent time in the subcompact Kona EV crossover, which has 258 miles of battery range, and considers it superior to the gasoline version of the popular model.

"They are right there," Brauer said, "or slightly better than a lot of their competitors."

The Korean group's push into crossovers bears out his point. Hyundai and Kia both lagged in crossover offerings but have now added a half-dozen new models between them, in addition to creating the Genesis luxury brand.

Hyundai is stressing crossovers and SUVs with its Ioniq electric brand strategy. But it is still keeping a foot in the sedan market, given that the body style remains popular in some countries.

Hyundai's choice of a compact- to-midsize crossover as its first vehicle on the new EV platform is a good play for the U.S. and most global markets, said Sam Abuelsamid, an analyst at Guidehouse Insights.

Although Hyundai defines the Ioniq 5 as midsize, spy photos suggest it's closer to a compact crossover. Hyundai has not shown the planned EV in detail but said the model will take design cues from the angular concept vehicle called the 45 that it showed at last year's Frankfurt auto show.

"This is probably the ideal segment for Hyundai to launch this new family of vehicles, since those compact CUVs are the top-selling passenger vehicles today, aside from big pickups," Abuelsamid said. "If an OEM is going to try to bring in customers to buy EVs, it makes sense to put electric platforms in the type of vehicles they want to buy."

Spy photos suggest that Kia and Genesis are going for the same body style with their first EVs built on the new modular platform.

Kia said in a press release that the European version of its new EV will arrive in 2021 and have a range of more than 300 miles with ultrafast charging abilities. The crossover design "blurs the boundaries between passenger and sport-utility vehicles," Kia said in the release.

Genesis has said only that its EV on the E-GMP platform will launch by the end of 2021.

Hyundai's second new EV, slated for a global launch in 2022, will be based on the Prophecy concept from March of this year. The four-door sedan concept has four seating spaces in a midsize to large exterior.

"They will probably offer the Ioniq 6 as an alternative for those that like sedans but want to go fully electric rather than hybrid or plug-in hybrid," said Abuelsamid. "It probably won't do as well as the 5 and 7, but we could also see the market shift back to sedans at some point."

The Ioniq 7 large SUV, arriving in 2024, would allow the Korean automaker to compete with American players such as upstart EV maker Rivian and General Motors' Hummer vehicles, as well as bigger crossovers from BMW, Audi and potentially Nissan, Volkswagen and others.

"Whether the market is ready for larger electric SUVs remains to be seen, but we'll be finding out by 2024 since there will be numerous products on the market," said Abuelsamid. "If it offers the range people want at a reasonable price point, I see no reason why it shouldn't do well."

Kia said that its EVs will offer either 400-volt charging capacity — the standard in most EVs today — or 800-volt charging, which is offered on the new Porsche Taycan. The higher battery voltage allows for super-fast charging at public stations and is more useful for high-mileage drivers.

Kia is targeting global annual sales of 500,000 EVs by 2026. Hyundai said it expects 560,000 battery-electric sales by 2025, in addition to sales of fuel cell electric vehicles, which require hydrogen filling stations. Hyundai group's target is a 10 percent global share of electric vehicles by that date.