Korean Ministry Taps Hyundai Consortium to Develop Midsize EV by 2014

Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy selects a consortium led by Hyundai to develop a midsize electric vehicle by 2014.

The ministry says in a statement this week it plans to invest 70 billion won ($65 million) in the project, which will result in a commercially available midsize EV that will launch in the Korean market three years ahead of a previous target of 2017, which was announced last year.

Hyundai BlueOn compact EV.

The ministry discloses that it signed a memorandum of understanding for the project with Hyundai in July. The auto maker’s consortium includes 44 other organizations, such as small and medium vehicle manufacturers, research laboratories and universities.

A Hyundai spokeswoman declines to comment on the matter.

The government invited local auto makers to submit proposals for the project last December. Hyundai’s proposal was chosen over those submitted by GM Korea, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong, Ward’s confirms. Kia did not participate.

A GM Korea spokesman says the ministry requested a proposal to develop a midsize vehicle over the next three years. The auto maker submitted a plan, he says, but does not elaborate what it entailed.

However, the spokesman does note the ministry is mistaken in its statement that GM Korea separately is working on electric versions of its Chevy Spark minicar, Cruze sedan and Orlando multipurpose vehicle. “Those are just possible applications, and we are still determining which type of EV we will develop in Korea,” he says.

“Last year, we demonstrated 10 units of our Cruze EV during the G-20 Summit and then returned them to our (research and development) center in Bupyeong. The Cruze EV is powered by a floor-mounted LG Chem lithium-ion battery, and the technology will be used in other vehicles in the future.”

GM Korea is test-marketing the Chevrolet Volt EV, the spokesman adds.

A Renault Samsung spokesman confirms the auto maker submitted a proposal for a midsize EV to the ministry, but the company’s own EV program is focused on its SM3 compact car. “We are planning to have our SM3 EV commercially available by December of next year, but it’s not firmly fixed yet,” he says.

A Ssangyong spokesman says the utility-vehicle maker submitted a proposal to the ministry, but the project was awarded to Hyundai. He declines to discuss the company’s current EV development, but does point out Ssangyong displayed a Korando-based KEV2 concept at the Seoul Motor Show in April.

Kia says it is not involved in the consortium with Hyundai. Rather, it is working on its own EV programs that include a Venga EV concept for Europe and an A-segment EV being developed in Korea.

“At this point, we plan to release the A-segment EV to the (Korean) government (for fleet vehicles) in 2012, followed by commercial release in 2013,” a spokesman says. “In 2014, Kia will release a (cross/utility vehicle) type EV for the global market.”

Hyundai’s in-house EV plan calls for the production of 250 units of its BlueOn compact EV by the end of 2011 for government fleet applications.

Both the Kia A-segment and Hyundai BlueOn EVs are being built at the Hyundai-Kia Vehicle Development Center in Namyang.