Industry and technology are moving a faster pace than they ever have before. It used to be that an automaker could introduce a new model on the market and expect it to be the one that leads the way for a few years before all other automakers caught up, but that’s no longer the case. The market is changing every year and before a vehicle ever makes it to the showroom plans are already in place to make changes to improve what that vehicle is and how it performs because that’s the speed of the competition and everyone has to keep up.
A great example of this is the new Hyundai Ioniq that hasn’t even been put to the market just yet. In fact this car is just about ready to be offered in the lineup and yet Hyundai already feels they need to boost the range in order to keep up with the rest of the pack. When this vehicle hits the market at the end of this year it will be able to travel 124 miles on a single charge, but by 2018, Hyundai expects to be able to increase this number to more than 200 miles worth of range.
Even though we already know this vehicle is on its way and now know the plans Hyundai has for it, they aren’t showing it off at the LA Auto Show later this week. It may be there, but the main feature for this brand will be a new home charging station that will be used for the Ioniq to give you everything you need to charge and operate yours on a daily basis. This new charging station will make it much easier for you to charge up your Ioniq at home and know you’re ready to ride the next day.
As a vehicle that’s going to be offered in three different versions, an EV model, a hybrid model and a plug-in hybrid you will have your choice of how you want to drive. What seems to be the nagging question is why Hyundai feels they already need to change and upgrade this model to be even better before it ever hits the streets? The answer is actually really simple; competition is causing this immediate need for change and they have to be able to keep up with the rest of the market in order to stay competitive.
Right now we have the new Chevrolet Bolt which gives you 238 miles of range and will be at dealers in the next few weeks, Nissan is preparing a Leaf that will have a 200 mile range but we don’t have a date for that model yet, and Tesla will have the Model 3 on the market by the end of 2017 that will give us 215 miles of range. Know the range of all these other vehicles means the Ioniq could be left behind if left alone. With this kind of competition on the EV market it’s easy to see why Hyundai already has more plans for the Ioniq, but they might be better off aiming for a 300 mile range in order to get out ahead of the pack.
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