Hyundai’s New Crossover Is Making The Cheap EV Dream Come True
Hyundai has just launched an electric version of one of its most popular SUVs. It’s quicker than its gas counterpart and gets up to 294 miles of range. This one, though, won’t be coming to the US. It’s the Hyundai Creta electric, based on an SUV that Hyundai builds in half a dozen countries around the world. For now, the latest Hyundai EV will be on sale only in India, following its debut at the Nharat Mobility Show later this month. The Creta is a compact crossover that slots into Hyundai’s lineup just below the Kona in size. Hyundai sells the gas model in 85 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Hyundai
Hyundai Motor Company was founded in 1967 by Chung Ju-yung, 20 years after the birth of the Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company. The automotive marque’s first model was the Cortina, birthed with the help of Ford in 1968, while its first self-developed car arrived the year after as the Pony. Since then, the company has found success with affordable cars and has consistently become known for reliability and value. Nowadays, its ventures vary from combustion, hybrid, all-electric, and hydrogen mobility solutions to robotics.
- Founded
- 29 December 1967
- Founder
- Chung Ju-yung
- Headquarters
- Seoul, South Korea
- Owned By
- Hyundai Motor Group
- Current CEO
- Jae-Hoon Chang
Hyundai’s Pixels Are Everywhere
A new face makes it immediately clear you’re looking at the electric version. The nose is nearly completely closed off, except for a pair of small flaps that open up when needed to push air through the heat exchangers for the HVAC and electric systems. Both the front and rear get Hyundai’s parametric pixel design that has looked sharp on its EVs since the Ioniq 5 for the head and taillights. The rest of the bodywork is all but unchanged, and it looks like a slightly larger version of the Venue Hyundai sells here.
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It’s a big deal for Hyundai because this is its first localized EV, meaning the first one that it intends to sell only in a single or small number of small markets, leaving out major EV sales areas like Europe and China. It’s also an electric powertrain for a model that was launched in 2019. In other markets, we would expect a brand-new vehicle by now. Putting this kind of development into such an old platform is an interesting move for the Korean brand.
300-mile EV Delivers Slow Acceleration, Equally Slow Charging
Hyundai didn’t say how much power the Creta would have, but did say that it would deliver “thrilling acceleration.” Thrilling, in this case, means 0-60 mph in 7.9 seconds for the Long Range model. That Long Range model gets a 51.4 kWh battery pack that promises 294 miles of range using India’s test cycle. The small pack model will get 42 kWh and 242 miles.
Fast charging is about as fast as the Creta EV’s acceleration. 10-80 percent takes 58 minutes on a Level 3 fast charger. Going from 10 to 100 will take four hours on a Level 2 plug at home.
Related
Why is the 2024 Hyundai Creta not sold in America?
In developed markets like the USA, Hyundai sells the stylish Kona in place of the Creta. Both are positioned above the smaller Venue. Do you prefer the look of the Creta to the Kona?
Despite the old bones, the Creta will get some of Hyundai’s best EV features. That includes Vehicle to Load, which lets owners use the SUV’s battery to power their home and other devices, a feature that could be handy in regions where the power grid is less reliable. Hyundai won’t announce pricing until the show on January 17th. The gas Creta starts from Rs. 11 lakh, or around $13,000, and goes up to Rs. 23.3 lakh, or around $23,000.
