The Electric Vehicle market is warming up in India of late. Every day there is a new development either on the government side as far as policies and infrastructure are concerned or at automakers' end when investment and new models are taken into account. In fact, carmakers are now focusing on offering compact and affordable EVs in our market, and Hyundai India too has been working in this direction. A brand new compact EV is on the cards at the Korean carmaker's stable which will be positioned below the Hyundai Kona electric in our market. The company is planning for a market launch of this EV in the next three years.
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Hyundai recently teased the AX1 micro SUV concept.
Sharing the development with carandbike, Tarun Garg, Director - Sales, Marketing and Service, Hyundai Motor India said, "The direction very clearly towards cleaner mobility has begun and I think at Hyundai we already made that statement with the Kona EV in 2019. We are already working on a mass market EV and in three years' time we will bring an EV which will cater to the mass market of India, not only in terms range and price, but also in terms of ecosystem like suppliers and charging infrastructure. So I think lot of discussions are going around and we are quite confident that probably because this strong direction has already happened, in three years' time we'll see a lot of change happening in this space. But the good thing is that we have the capability and wherewithal. So three years for sure for an EV which is much more volume based and much more mass market."
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The spy shot shows two variants of the AX1 standing side by side.
Now Garg did reaffirm that it will be a compact EV which will be positioned below the Kona and is being specifically developed for India while will make its way to other markets as well, but the company is yet to final the dimensions, range and battery capacity among other specifications and that's a work in progress. "Yes! It will be positioned below the Kona EV and we are still working on the body type and range. We are doing our market research and we are really confident that this vehicle will spur the EV market in India," Garg added. So no final word on the type of EV yet, but we speculate it to be developed on the line of the AX1 micro-SUV concept as far as the body style is concerned. In fact, it likely will be an electrified version of the Hyundai AX1 micro-SUV which is also in its pipeline for India and will probably be christened 'Casper'.
Also Read: Hyundai AX1 Micro SUV Teased; Likely To Be Launched In India
The Hyundai AX1 electric offering could be priced around Rs. 10 lakh.
The new product will let Hyundai tap a wider class of EV buyers who are willing to make the leap with something affordable, and that's also the reason of the Tata Nexon EV's success in India. Yes! While Hyundai's new EV is expected to be a micro-SUV, its closest rival will be the subcompact Tata Nexon EV in our market. Then, even MG Motor India is planning to cash in the demand with an affordable compact EV around the same time, after acknowledging the success of the Nexon EV. Hyundai Motor India is already rivalling MG Motor India in the EV space with the Kona Electric that goes up against the MG ZS EV.
