Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
Sponsored links:
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FUEL ECONOMY:
n/a MPG n/a L/100km
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BODY TYPE:
Sedan
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TECHNOLOGY:
Hybrid
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BASE MSRP:
n/a
Hyundai officially announced plans yesterday to produce a hybrid version of the Sonata sedan in 2010. 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 will make its world debut at the 2008 Los Angeles International Auto Show in November.
Though most details about the Sonata Hybrid are being kept under wraps, a Hyundai executive revealed yesterday that the vehicle will utilize lithium ion batteries, as reported by Associated Press. Lithium technology holds great promise for boosting the efficiency of hybrids. But for most consumers, the choice of battery chemistry is a purely technical matter. The more important and most critical question is, "What's the mpg?"
Car shoppers will have to wait some time before getting a definitive answer. HybridCars.com spoke with 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. “We’ll talk more about that when the car is introduced in LA.”
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.
Hyundai’s decision to enter the hybrid market comes after a record-high spike in gas prices. 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. While the standard Sonata is built in Alabama, the production site for the upcoming hybrid is also unknown.
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!
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