The internal combustion engine is living on borrowed time as more and more automakers are gradually switching to EVs. Hyundai is the latest car manufacturer to present its ambitious roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality, but it's not all about battery-powered EVs as the South Korean marque is committed to hydrogen propulsion as well.
Europe is the first region where Hyundai will abandon petrol and diesel engines, with 2035 representing the cutoff date for the ICE on the Old Continent. That's not all too surprising seeing as how the European Commission already has a proposal waiting to be voted, which if approved, will effectively ban automakers from selling cars with traditional powertrains by the middle of the next decade.
The announcement made today at the start of the IAA Munich also mentions 2040 as being the year when Hyundai will become a purely electric brand in most major global markets. By then, the company estimates battery-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles to account for 80 percent of its total annual sales after reaching 30 percent at the end of this decade. In related news, the company's whole global operations will be powered by renewable energy by 2045.
If you're intrigued by Hyundai's decision to invest time, money, and effort in the development of hydrogen tech, it is worth mentioning a new Nexo model has been confirmed for 2023 when an MPV using the same type of propulsion is scheduled to hit the market. In the latter half of the decade, a big fuel cell SUV will be launched.
The EVs are coming:
Meanwhile, the gorgeous Prophecy concept is being displayed at IAA Munich to signal the production model's arrival in 2022 as the Ioniq 6 saloon. The Ioniq 5 electric crossover is also there as a robotaxi with a Level 4 autonomous driving system ahead of 2023 when a fully driverless taxi service is set to launch.
Source: Hyundai