Hyundai is working on not one but two small electric vehicles to replace the current i10 city hatchback in 2024. The Korean automaker is building both a direct replacement to the i10 in terms of body style, as well as a more SUV-inspired crossover type vehicle based on the same underpinnings.
It is not known what platform they will share, since Hyundai’s bespoke EV architecture called E-GMP, while scalable, probably isn’t suitable for a vehicle the size of an i10 (pictured). The company may develop an entirely new dedicated EV platform for lower cost vehicles, which it needs to compete with other manufacturers in Europe that have similar models on the way.
Gallery: Hyundai i10 N Line: живые фото
The intention to launch a small electric vehicle was confirmed by Andreas-Christoph Hofmann, Hyundai’s marketing boss for Europe, who also stated the company’s target price for this vehicle - €20,000, nowadays the equivalent of around $20,600. Automotive News Europe quotes Hofmann as saying
Everybody in the industry knows the target of this kind of vehicle is 20,000 euros.
The new mini EVs will probably not make it to North America, though, so they will most likely be only sold in Europe and a few other markets. Hofmann also told Automotive News Europe that Hyundai would launch 11 new electric cars just in Europe by 2030, adding that it’s hard for the automaker to make a profit off tiny, affordable vehicles and the prospect of creating very small EVs posed technical challenges.
The automaker does want to keep its position as an EV segment leader in Europe, and rivals from the Volkswagen group all have similar models cooking. Around 20 percent of all the vehicles Hyundai sold in Europe in the first half of 2022 were electric, up from 14.1 percent in 2021. Its plan is to sell 1.87-million EVs annually and have a 7 percent global market share by 2030.
