Hyundai Unveils New Ioniq Electric Trim In South Korea That Costs Only ~$16,300 (After Incentives)
Hyundai has unveiled a new Ioniq Electric trim option — dubbed “I” — in South Korea. The intent is to increase the rate of electric vehicle adoption, according to recent reports.
So, why would the new trim option increase the rate of electric vehicle (EV) adoption? Because it’s relatively cheap, only running buyers 18.4 million won (~$16,300) after government incentives there are taken into account.
Before you ask, no, it’s not clear yet if the new trim will end up being offered in the US and Europe as well. Though, if it does end up being offered in those markets, then sales there will presumably see a nice uptick.
Hyundai Ioniq Electric sales in South Korea in 2016 reportedly totaled 3,749 units — apparently, that’s around 63% of the total EV market. Considering those numbers, as compared against the country’s population figures, it seems pretty clear why the company is now offering a more aggressively priced version of the Ioniq Electric — there’s a lot of potential and an almost completely untapped market there. (Notably, the model only launched in 2016, and wasn’t available the full year.)
The unveiling of the new trim took place at the recent 4th International Electric Vehicle Expo, which was held at the Yeomiji Botanic Garden of Jungmun Resort in Jeju Island, South Korea.
Push EVs provides more: “The South Korean carmaker launched the Ioniq Electric with two trims ‘Q’ and ‘N’ in June last year… In Europe the price difference between the hybrid and electric variants of the Hyundai IONIQ is roughly €10,000, which is nonsense, considering that the electric variant is much simpler to build and the small LG Chem battery doesn’t justify this huge price difference.”
There are of course other factors involved in pricing (for different markets) than merely production cost, though — such as the price people are willing to pay.
See our in-depth review of the Hyundai Ioniq Electric for more on this hot car.
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