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19/11/2010
By ALISTAIR KENNEDY
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During our recent trip to South Korea we were able to spend some time at the Hyundai’s Research and Development headquarters at Namyang. At this state-of-the-art facility the focus is on across-the-board ways to minimise the environmental impact of its vehicles.
Hyundai has adopted the name Blue Drive for this strategy and its goal is produce a range of enhancements that not only reduce the harmful effects of automotive production and usage, but also do so without compromising performance, comfort or driver convenience.
The Centre’s president, Dr Woong-chul Yang told us that various engine options are being developed and Hyundai’s ambitious goal is to be the world’s most fuel efficient car manufacturer by 2015.
Dr Yang explained that while Hyundai would continue to develop and produce hybrid-electric, plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicles (EVs) these were interim measures only while the company concentrated on its long-term goal of producing a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). This is essentially an electric car that produces its own electricity using hydrogen rather than batteries. FCEVs are seen as the ultimate pollution-free vehicles, emitting only water vapour as exhaust, and not requiring the environmentally-harmful production of batteries.
While there are substantial barriers that need to be breached before mass production of price-competitive FCEVs begins Hyundai’s R&D team has already made a number of breakthroughs in terms of technological and cost-reduction.
In the meantime Hyundai is producing a number of transitional vehicles including the aforementioned hybrid and electric vehicles, but also vehicles that can run on ethanol, bio-diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG).
We were able to have test drives in both the BlueOn EV and the new Sonata hybrid at the R&D Centre’s test track. Based on the hyundai i10 mini car, the BlueOn has a claimed range of 140 kilometres and a maximum speed of 130 km/h. Apart from the absence of engine noise at start-up and low speeds BlueOn is just like any other small car to drive. Acceleration is sharp due to the all-but immediate torque generation. Likewise with the Sonata Hybrid, although of course the petrol engine kicks in once you need sharper acceleration.
Although we didn’t get to test drive it, the Namyang Design Centre was also responsible for developing the Hyundai Blue-Will, the company’s first ever plug-in electric/petrol hybrid (PHEV) which effectively combines the benefits of EV and hybrids. Blue-Will carries larger lithium polymer batteries that can be charged using an external power source to allow for longer distances (up to 64 km) periods of electric-only driving combined with a 1.6-litre petrol engine.
While power generation is the most significant component, the Hyundai Blue Drive program includes a wide range of other features. These include such things as roof-mounted solar cells, drive-by-wire steering, stop and go system to save fuel when the vehicle is stationary, lithium polymer batteries that can be re-charged using normal household power, thermal generators that convert the heat from exhaust gases into electrical energy, “eco sleek” exterior styling to minimize aerodynamic drag. Where possible recycled PET material and bio-plastics will be used on both internal and external parts.
Hyundai Australia is currently in discussions with HMC to ensure that the Blue Drive technology does eventually find its way to Australia in one form or another. |
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