Hyundai changes course as EV sales slump, but the company has a plan it hopes will work and it could be great news for Australia

Yes, this is a car website but have you ever seen an aircraft carrier perform a high-speed turn? It’s impressive and very much like what the gigantic Hyundai Motor Company is doing at the moment.

The company’s president announced the business will pivot to producing more hybrids as global electric car sales slump, and that could be good news for Australia.

Speaking at the 2024 CEO Investor Day, Hyundai Motor Company’s President and CEO Jaehoon Chang explained due to the downtrend in EV sales there would be a change in direction that would shift towards hybrids - specifically, Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREV).

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“In response to the recent slowdown in EV demand, Hyundai Motor is developing a new EREV under its Hyundai Dynamic Capabilities strategy,” Hyundai said in a statement. 

“The new EREV will combine the advantages of internal combustion engines (ICE) and EVs. Hyundai Motor has developed a unique new powertrain and power electronics (PT/PE) system to enable four-wheel drive with the application of two motors. The operation is powered solely by electricity, similar to EVs, with the engine being used only for battery charging.” 

You may know what an EREV is already, but in case you don’t they’re hybrids that use an internal combustion engine to generate electricity for a battery which powers electric motors that drive the wheels. Nissan favours this kind of technology for its hybrids such as in the X-Trail and Qashqai, and it differs from Hyundai's most common form of hybrid which uses a petrol engine and electric motor that can both drive the wheels.

The good news for Australia is Hyundai predicts its EREVs will have a range of up to 900km and in a country such as ours, where travelling distances can be vast, an electric vehicle of this type could be well suited to many drivers.

Hyundai says production will start in China and the United States by the end of 2026, with sales commencing in 2027. It’s likely that EREV technology would appear on current models which already offer hybrid variants such as the Santa Fe, Kona, Tucson and i30.  There's also Hyundai's luxury sub-brand Genesis and we recently reported that the GV70 could be among the first to get the EREV treatment.

Whether the EREVs come to Australia that soon is uncertain. While the demand for electric cars is waning overseas, in Australia EV uptake is still increasing. Up until the end of July year to date sales of battery electric vehicles (BEV) is up by 8.7 per cent at 54,267. So while the appetite is still there, Hyundai may continue to expand its EV line-up to meet the demand.

Currently Hyundai's BEV line-up includes the Kona Electric, Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and the upcoming Ioniq 9 large SUV, while Genesis has the G80 saloon and GV60 SUV.

CarsGuide asked Hyundai Australia if and when the new EREVs would land locally, but the company has yet to respond.