Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
Sponsored links:
-
FUEL ECONOMY:
n/a MPG n/a L/100km
-
BODY TYPE:
Sedan
-
TECHNOLOGY:
Hybrid
-
BASE MSRP:
n/a
Hyundai officially introduced the hybrid version of the Sonata sedan at the 2008 Los Angeles International Auto Show. It will be the automaker’s first production version gas-electric hybrid in the United States. The company previously made noises about entering the hybrid market with subcompact hybrids, but Hyundai's hybrid plans were indefinitely delayed before getting very far along. The company seems to be back on track. The Sonata Hybrid is due out in 2010.
At the introduction of the Sonata Hybrid, Hyundai also announced that it will be able to achieve a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2015, five years ahead of the timetable for new fuel economy regulations. “We’re taking fuel efficiency higher and faster than any other carmaker. We’re going to pass Toyota and Honda by 2015,” said John Krafcik, president of Hyundai Motor America, in an interview with HybridCars.com.
What about the fuel economy of the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid? HybridCars.com asked a Hyundai spokesperson (who asked not to be named). "Fuel economy should be improved by 20 to 25 percent, but those are not hard numbers,” he said. The current Sonata midsize sedan grants 22 mpg in the city and 32 on the highway. Do the math, and it means that the Hybrid Sonata could achieve combined fuel economy better than 30 miles a gallon. By comparison, the Camry Hybrid beats out the four-cylinder conventional Camry by the same 20 to 25 percent, while the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid manages about a 9 percent gain over its gas-powered counterpart.
The Sonata Hybrid’s Lithium Batteries
Hyundai developed its own homegrown hybrid architecture for use in the Sonata. The technical design, known as a parallel hybrid system, will serve as the foundation for future hybrid drive vehicles introduced by Hyundai. In a parallel hybrid, the wheels are turned by power coming directly from the gasoline engine, the electric motor, or both together, as conditions demand. This approach is similar to the design used by Toyota and Ford.
The more significant innovation is the use of a lithium polymer battery system provided by Hyundai’s battery supplier, LG Chem. According to Hyundai, the lithium batteries deliver the same power as today’s hybrid nickel metal hydride batteries—but with 30 percent less weight, 50 percent less volume and 10 percent greater efficiency.
Despite industry concerns about the price and availability of lithium batteries, Krafcik said it wasn’t a hard decision to make the move to lithium. He admits that Hyundai is late to the hybrid market—the Sonata is about two years away from dealerships—and expressed the desire to demonstrate a leadership position with its first hybrid entry. “We asked ourselves where the technology is going to be in five years,” he said. “And how we can get to that end point ahead of time.”
Nobody knows where fuel prices will be in two years, when the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid goes on sale, but the Sonata Hybrid could match the fuel economy ratings of the most efficient family sedans on the market—for thousands of dollars below the competition. Pricing and many other specs are not yet available.
Sounds like they are using a mild hybrid system then........
Maybe they are hoping to keep in reasonably priced that way while in combination with the li-ion, which can potentially be pricey. It should be interesting.
My mother had a GX350 Hyundai until recently. Although it was a peppy V6, she was getting pretty horrid mileage (teens) around town and not much better on the hwy. She borrowed my Altima hybrid for a weekend, and bought one several weeks later.
A Sonata is in the same class I believe, and I would expect the mpg numbers to average mid to high 30's if they do this right, especially considering the jump in battery technology over the Altima.
(The Altima official epa average is 34mpg combined, personally I do much better)
They say 20% to 25% then compare it to the stop start malibu. Sound like apples to oranges.
That is strange, and the improvement in mpg is actually about 20% for the new 2009 model. (they improved it for the new model year) Now it returns numbers of 26/34. Now if they only mated a 6speed auto to that, and it could go all the way up to 37 mpg. : ) I can dream can't I.
Hopefully Hyundai's hybrid will be more like the Camry/Altima than the Malibu. If they follow the GM model for hybrids (i.e. a whole lotta talk and not much walk), Toyota and Honda have no worries. It will be interesting to be what kind of performance they get out of the LIon.
Bryce, You gotta work on your math, man. The MPG improvement on the new Malibu is ACTUALLY 11% or 16% overall depending on if you compare it to the 6 spd auto or a 4 spd auto. Compare this to the 36% improvement, overall (34 mpg to 25 mpg) for the Camry.
Talk about fuzzy math...
If the Sonata gets 22 city and 32 highway now
A 20% improvement would be 26 and 38
A 25% improvement would be 28 and 40
The epa ratings which use 55% city and 45% highway would be an average at 20% of 32 mpg or at 25% an average of 33 mpg.
The 2009 Malibu is rated at 29 by the EPA, Camry 34 MPG.
Looks to me like the Sonata will be closer to the Camry than the Malibu. But, maybe by 2010 the Malibu will be up there also.
I'm just glad to see that we will have many more options in the near future. We'll need them when gas is $5-6 a gal.
I love options. Hooray for capitalism. : )
Here's for hopin' that the hybrid gets that 6 speed auto.
Quote the shines...
"Talk about fuzzy math...
If the Sonata gets 22 city and 32 highway now
A 20% improvement would be 26 and 38
A 25% improvement would be 28 and 40"
Problem is you can't just raise the numbers like that with a hybrid. Although city mileage may go up considerably, highway mileage may not see much of an increase at all. Maybe 10%.
Yep,
That's why I said fuzzy math. If we're lucky it will get a 25% improvement in the city and still get a 20% improvement on the highway - If we're really lucky...
We can hope Hyundi's hybrid works in such a way...
That is fuuzy math. Everyone I know that has a hybrid, only gets a couple mpg better on the highway if anything. Todays hybrids are really designed for stop and start driving - like an urban environment. Go 70 on the highway for a couple hours and your hybrid half of the car can't do as much.
That's why I am looking forward to PHEV/full electric vehicles. No gas, or limited gas.
I have an '05 Honda Accord Hybrid. Cruising at 68-69 MPH I consistantly get between 36-38 MPG.
At 75 MPH that goes way down to 32-33 MPG. But the Honda has "V.C.M." which means that under low or no-load situations the car is feeding gas to only 3 cylinders. Because it's a mild hybrid (small elect. engine) it has GEAT acceleratoin, though.
My wife's '07 Toyota Camry gets 37-39 MPG at 68-69 MPH but only 34-35 MPG at 75 MPH. But these are still pretty good improvements.
Folks who drive at 80+ on the highway are the ones complaining the most about poor gas mileage with hybrids!
I have an '05 Honda Accord Hybrid. Cruising at 68-69 MPH I consistantly get between 36-38 MPG.
At 75 MPH that goes way down to 32-33 MPG. But the Honda has "V.C.M." which means that under low or no-load situations the car is feeding gas to only 3 cylinders. Because it's a mild hybrid (small elect. engine) it has GEAT acceleratoin, though.
My wife's '07 Toyota Camry gets 37-39 MPG at 68-69 MPH but only 34-35 MPG at 75 MPH. But these are still pretty good improvements.
Folks who drive at 80+ on the highway are the ones complaining the most about poor gas mileage with hybrids!
Post a new comment