Since 2004, Hyundai has supplied about 3,000 hybrid versions of its Gets and Accent small cars to government fleets as part of a testing program. The automaker cites a lack of local tax benefits for purchasing hybrids as a barrier to its hybrid development program, a think that Hyundai isn’t agree with. Wth the electric Sonata debuting in L.A. International Auto Show in November 2008, Hyundai released it in the U.S. market in 2010, featuring lithium ion battery technology.
Hyundai started to produce hybrid electric vehicle two years ago and wants to use more lithium polymers batteries instead of lithium-ion. Hybrid Blue Drive is one of the models using lithium polymer. The Avante was the first vehicle produced from the Hybrid Blue Drive series. Other examples are Santa Fe Hybrid, the Elantra, the Hyundai 920 and the Sonata Hybrid who reached the U market a year ago.
In South Korea Hyundai began producing thr Elantra LPI Hybrid in July 2009.
The Elantra LPI (Liquefied Petroleum Injected) is the world’s first hybrid electric vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine built to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) a a fuel.
At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Hyundai unveiled the i-flow, a concept car using a variant of the BLUE-WILL hybrid system. The i-flow Concept uses a 1.7-liter twin-turbo diesel engine along with electric batteries to achieve fuel economy of 3 litres per 100 kilometres.
A production car based on the i-flow’s design is one of the newest models produced by Hyundai.