Electric Vehicles Motor
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
An employee assembles a Hyundai Motor vehicle on the production line at the company’s factory in Asan, South Korea.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor is developing its first dedicated architecture for pure electric vehicles, an executive told Reuters, preparing a major push into the growing segment by offering multiple models with longer driving ranges.
While the platform will not be completed at least until next year, Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Motors plan to roll out small electric sport utility vehicles based on existing platforms, said Lee Ki-sang, a senior vice president at Hyundai Motor.
The subcompact or compact models would have a range of more than 300 km (186 miles) per charge, and would be "more competitive" than rival offerings, Lee, who leads Hyundai-Kia's green cars operations, said in an interview on the eve of an auto show that kicked off in Seoul on Thursday.
He said he expected electric vehicles to account for about 10 percent of total global vehicle sales by 2025, from some 1 percent now.
