Hyundai Motor Company Australia (HMCA) has announced its support for the New South Wales Government’s EV (Electric Vehicle) Strategy as outlined by the Minister for Energy and Environment, The Hon. Matthew Kean.
Hyundai said in a statement that it acknowledges the leadership position taken by the NSW Government in developing this policy.
“The NSW Government’s stated ambition is to make it the easiest state in Australia to buy and drive an EV, said HMCA Chief Operating Officer, John Kett.
“This strategy goes a long way to making that a reality.
“We congratulate the State Government and recognise NSW as now setting the pace for the rest of Australia.”
Kett added that significant investment in the charging network, in both urban and regional areas, is a welcome initiative.
He asserted that highly developed infrastructure provides confidence to customers and removes uncertainty around being able to charge EVs away from home.
“Providing stimulus for improving low EV adoption rates in Australia, by offering tax relief and purchase incentives for customers, is another encouraging step,” said Kett.
“We’ve seen government incentives stimulate adoption rates in advanced markets overseas and the NSW EV Strategy is at world best-practice levels in that regard.”
Kett mentioned that HMCA also acknowledges the NSW Government’s commitment to convert its own fleet to fully electric by 2030, with an interim target of 50 per cent by 2026.
“We look forward to being a key partner in that transition as we continue to expand the range of Hyundai EVs available to all Australians in the future,” he said.
The Hyundai Motor Group has stated that globally it will launch 44 electrified vehicles by 2025. Of those, 23 will be 100 per cent Battery Electric models.
Hyundai Australia said its intention is to introduce every one of Hyundai’s new EVs to the local market.
“We are committed to expanding our EV portfolio across Australia, starting with the new IONIQ 5 SUV later this year and shortly followed by the IONIQ 6 Sedan and IONIQ 7 large SUV. Our aim is to be a leading Australian EV provider,” said Kett.
In other EV news, it was revealed early last year that Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation had co-invested 100 million euros (about $160m AUD) into UK electric-vehicle startup Arrival.
A joint release said the venture would enable both companies to develop competitively priced small and mid-sized battery-powered vans for logistics, on-demand ride-sharing and shuttle service operators.
“The partnership with Arrival will help Hyundai and Kia meet the rapidly growing demand in Europe for eco-friendly commercial vehicles and accelerate the brands’ transformation from car makers to clean-mobility providers,” the statement read.
Arrival was founded in 2015 and reportedly runs production facilities and Research and Development sites in the US, Germany, Israel, Russia, and the UK.
Its ‘Generation 2’ vehicles are designed to be assembled by micro-factories which are said to be positioned to serve local communities, with small footprints in order to achieve profitability.
Arrival brings to the table a so-called ‘skateboard’ vehicle platform with a modular component structure incorporating the battery pack, electric motor and driveline components.
It’s claimed that Hyundai and Kia’s commercial vehicles will be grafted onto the Arrival platform, meaning it won’t need to develop its own complete vehicles.