Hyundai-Kia Ranks 5th in Global EV Market
11 September, 2019
Hyundai and affiliate Kia have risen to the No. 5 spot in the global market for electric vehicles.
According to market researcher HIS on Monday, Hyundai and Kia took up a combined 6.5 percent in the global EV market in the first half of this year, up from 4.1 percent from the same period of last year. That raised their ranking from ninth to fifth in the world. Tesla still occupies the top spot, followed by BYD, Renault-Nissan and SAIC.
Hyundai-Kia sold 44,838 EVs in the first half -- Hyundai 30,963 and Kia 13,875 -- more than doubling from a year ago. The increase was led by electric versions of their popular SUVs -- Hyundai's Kona and Kia's Niro with sales of 23,347 and 10,122 cars.
Hyundai said Monday that it has acquired a 20-percent stake in IONITY, a European manufacturer of EV charging stations, strengthening global alliances in the market for eco-friendly vehicles.
The automaker hopes to use IONITY's technology to boost EV recharging speed to a third of the time it takes at present. Using IONITY's 350 kW high-speed chargers, Hyundai's 800 volt EVs set to be released after 2021 can be recharged in just three minutes to travel more than 100 km.
At present, the Kona takes 54 minutes to recharge, but that will be reduced to 15 minutes in the future.
Source:
TAG(s):