Tag Archives: Hyundai

News

Hyundai to launch five new EVs in the next two years

By the time Milan Design Week wraps up this April, Hyundai will have thrown a very pointed gauntlet into the compact-EV arena. It’s called the Ioniq 3, and it’s aimed squarely at the heart of Europe’s most hotly contested electric segment.

Think Volkswagen ID.3, Renault Mégane E-Tech, and Peugeot e-308—but with Hyundai’s design swagger and the kind of platform sharing that’s made the Korean group such a quiet juggernaut in the EV space. Previewed by last year’s Concept Three, the Ioniq 3 will be Hyundai’s new electric hatchback for the masses, sliding neatly between the city-sized Inster and the family-friendly Ioniq 5.

Underneath, it rides on the 400-volt version of Hyundai-Kia’s E-GMP architecture—the same bones as the upcoming Kia EV4—bringing with it shared motors and battery packs. The biggest of those should be good for around 390 miles of range on Europe’s optimistic test cycle, which, even after real-world trimming, still puts it in the sweet spot for daily commuting and long-haul autobahn runs alike.

Hyundai plans to build the Ioniq 3 in Izmit, Turkey, starting late this summer, on the same lines as the gasoline-powered i20. That dual-track production strategy says a lot about where Hyundai’s head is right now: all-in on electrification, but smart enough not to bet the company on one powertrain alone. Expect prices to start around £35,000, making it a direct, unapologetic rival to Europe’s EV establishment.

Size-wise, think i20 footprint with i30-grade interior room—a trick made possible by the flat-floor, skateboard-style EV platform. That’s exactly the sort of packaging magic that’s turned once-humble hatchbacks into legit family cars, and it’s why the B- and C-segments are where the real EV fight is happening.

And Hyundai isn’t stopping at one. The Ioniq 3 is just the opening act in a five-model electrified blitz planned for Europe over the next 18 months. Two more small-car EVs are on the way, and don’t be surprised if one of them takes on a more SUV-ish stance, mirroring Kia’s EV3/EV4 double act.

At the same time, Hyundai is hedging with hybrids. A heavily revised i30 is in the works, along with a new Tucson and a second-gen Bayon—all set to go hybrid-only. It’s a pragmatic approach in a market where EV demand is still spiky and uneven from country to country.

“We’re betting on hybrids and EVs for the next few years,” says Hyundai Europe CEO Xavier Martinet, and he’s refreshingly candid about the uncertainty baked into Europe’s electrified future. Regulations change. Incentives come and go. Geopolitics gets messy. Hyundai’s answer is flexibility—something it can afford thanks to its vertically integrated empire that spans everything from batteries and software to robotics and heavy industry.

That agility is already paying off. Last year, Hyundai’s EV sales in Europe jumped 48 percent, pushing the brand to an 18-percent electric mix and helping it hit its CO₂ targets without leaning on emissions pooling. Hybrid and plug-in sales rose too, and overall the company grabbed a 4.5-percent slice of the European market, with the UK now its single biggest territory.

The message is clear: Hyundai doesn’t just want a piece of Europe’s EV future—it wants to own it. And the Ioniq 3, a compact hatch with big ambitions, is poised to be the car that makes that vision feel very real indeed.

Source: Hyundai

NEW CARS

Hyundai Staria Electric Aims to Make Minivans Cool Again

Hyundai has never been shy about turning the volume knob past 11, and the Staria proves it. Now the brand is plugging in its most spaceship-like MPV yet, aiming squarely at rivals like the Kia PV5 and Ford E-Tourneo Custom with a fully electric Staria that’s officially headed for Europe—and potentially the UK.

First launched in 2021, the Staria looked less like a minivan and more like something that had slipped through a wormhole from the year 2045. Underneath its monolithic skin sits the same platform as the Santa Fe, and until now European buyers have only had diesel power to work with. That changes with the debut of the Staria Electric, revealed at the Brussels motor show and approved for right-hand-drive markets.

At 5255mm long and nearly two metres tall, the Staria Electric isn’t just big—it’s unapologetically enormous. A 2375mm wheelbase supports either seven or nine seats, making this the largest electric vehicle Hyundai currently offers. The company sees its appeal extending from large families to airport shuttle fleets to anyone whose idea of an “active lifestyle” involves hauling half their life at once.

Power comes from an 84kWh lithium-ion battery feeding a 216bhp motor driving the front wheels. Hyundai hasn’t published a 0–62mph time, but given the output and size, expect something around the eight-second mark. Top speed is a claimed 114mph, and towing capacity tops out at a respectable two tonnes—figures that keep it competitive with both ICE and electric people-movers.

The real eyebrow-raiser is underneath. Despite being based on an internal-combustion platform, the Staria Electric uses 800-volt electrical architecture—the same tech found in Hyundai’s dedicated EVs. That enables rapid charging from 10 to 80 percent in just 20 minutes, implying average charging speeds north of 180kW. For a vehicle this size, that’s genuinely impressive.

Visually, the electric version doesn’t stray far from the facelifted ICE model. You still get the unmistakable wraparound LED light bar, twin sliding doors, massive glasshouse, and a cavernous interior with a flat floor and cathedral-like headroom. Hyundai says suspension tweaks and additional sound insulation have been added to better suit the quieter EV powertrain.

Inside, the dashboard mirrors other modern Hyundais, with twin 12.3-inch screens and a welcome number of physical buttons for key functions. The column-mounted gear selector frees up space in the centre console, reinforcing the Staria’s lounge-on-wheels vibe.

Hyundai plans to offer the seven-seat Luxury version and the four-row Wagon variant in Europe during the first half of the year. UK availability hasn’t been confirmed yet, but the intent is clearly there.

If minivans are due for an electric reinvention, the Staria Electric makes a compelling case—big, bold, fast-charging, and utterly unconcerned with blending in. Whether British buyers are ready for something this unapologetically futuristic is the only remaining question.

Source: Hyundai

News

Hyundai Brings Humanoids to the Assembly Line

If your mental picture of an auto plant still involves sparks flying, steel-toe boots stomping, and a steady soundtrack of pneumatic tools, Hyundai would like a word. By 2028, some of the work at its new Georgia manufacturing facility will be handled not by humans in hard hats but by a humanoid robot named Atlas. It walks upright, carries parts with hands, and doesn’t clock out for lunch.

Yes, really.

Atlas is the latest sign that the modern car factory is evolving into something that looks less like a warehouse and more like a science-fiction set—one where the workforce increasingly includes machines that can see, think, and move like people. Hyundai’s announcement lands at an awkward cultural moment, too. The U.S. is loudly calling for the return of manufacturing jobs, even as automation makes it clear those jobs won’t look the way they used to.

Atlas comes from Boston Dynamics, the robotics company famous for making machines that can sprint, backflip, and generally unsettle anyone who’s seen Terminator more than once. Hyundai bought the company in 2021, and this isn’t a viral stunt robot designed to dance for YouTube views. This Atlas is meant to work.

The specs are impressive in a very blue-collar way. Atlas has human-scale hands with tactile sensing, joints that rotate far beyond human limits, and the ability to lift about 110 pounds without a groan, grimace, or OSHA complaint. It doesn’t get bored. It doesn’t get tired. And it definitely doesn’t ask for overtime.

At least initially, Hyundai says Atlas won’t be tightening bolts or hanging doors. Its first assignment will be parts sequencing—basically fetching, moving, and organizing components before they’re installed on the car. That may sound mundane, but in a high-volume factory, it’s a critical job that’s repetitive, physically demanding, and easy to mess up at 3 a.m. on a long shift.

If all goes according to plan, the robots will graduate to more complex assembly tasks by the end of the decade, once Hyundai is satisfied they can operate safely and consistently alongside humans. That last part matters. A 300-pound humanoid robot swinging its arms near people is not something you beta-test casually.

Hyundai is careful to frame this as collaboration, not replacement. The talking point is familiar: robots handle the dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks, freeing human workers to focus on supervision, quality control, and higher-level problem-solving. It’s the same argument automation advocates have made for decades, only now the robots look like coworkers instead of industrial cabinets.

The company also notes—correctly—that robots don’t appear out of thin air. Someone has to design them, build them, program them, maintain them, and train them. Those are jobs, too, even if they require different skills than running a spot welder or installing trim.

Still, it’s hard to ignore the anxiety this kind of announcement creates. Labor groups are watching closely, and factory workers have every reason to wonder what a future full of tireless machines means for long-term employment, wages, and job security. Hyundai says it understands those concerns and insists humans will remain central to its manufacturing operations, even as automation ramps up.

Zoom out a bit, and Atlas fits neatly into Hyundai’s broader push into what it calls “physical AI”—essentially software intelligence embodied in machines that can sense the world, make decisions, and act on them. The same underlying tech that lets a robot recognize and grab a suspension component also feeds into autonomous driving systems and fully automated factories.

In other words, this isn’t just about one robot in one plant. It’s about a future where cars are designed, built, and eventually driven by systems that increasingly resemble human intelligence, minus the coffee breaks.

Hyundai isn’t alone here, either. Tesla is developing its own humanoid robot, and Mercedes-Benz has already begun testing similar machines at its Berlin factory. Once one major automaker proves the concept works at scale, it’s hard to imagine the rest of the industry not following suit.

So yes, your next Hyundai may owe part of its existence to a robot that looks vaguely like a person and moves with unsettling confidence. It’s strange, a little uncomfortable, and probably inevitable—much like Henry Ford’s moving assembly line was a century ago. The tools have changed. The stakes haven’t.

Source: Hyundai