Hyundai's first electric car unveiled
South Korea's No.1 carmaker, Hyundai Motor has unveiled its first pure electric car on Thursday. With this launch, the company aims at starting mass production of the vehicles in the year 2012.The new electric car BlueOn, is based on its i10 hatchback. Without disclosing the price details of the vehicle, Hyundai said in a statement that the new Blue On will be powered by batteries which are made by SK Energy with a capacity of 16.4 kilowatts per hour. The new electric car of Hyundai will be able to cover 140 kilometres on a single charge. It also features a maximum speed of 130 kilometres per hour.
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Hyundai said that this year and next, it will produce and supply a small number of electric vehicles to government agencies before commencing sales to the general public in 2012. By the year 2012, the company plans to manufacture around 2,500 units. The company also made a statement that it would be too early to say that in which markets the BlueOn would be launched first. A spokesperson of the company said that they are taking a baby step. There is no infrastructure such as charging stations in Korea and many other countries.
On the other hand there are other automakers too with their electric vehicles but the high cost and the limited range of these vehicles are looked upon as the biggest hurdles for their widespread adoption. The Mitsubishi Motors Corp of Japan was the first major carmaker to introduce pure electric cars. Its i-MiEV electric car was introduced in Japan in August. Nissan Motor Co also intends to introduce a mass-market electric car in the United States in December. Similarly, Ford will also introduce an all-electric version of its Focus which will be available somewhere in late 2011.
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