Wednesday, October 06, 2004 commentary: Hyundai gearing up to launch hybrid vehicles by 2007 Overview: While Korea is on a red alert over rising oil prices, Hyundai Motor Co., the nation's largest carmaker, is stepping up efforts to develop fuel-efficient cars that run on a combination of gasoline and electricity. Company officials said introduction of the hybrid cars should come around 2007 or possibly earlier. The remaining work now is safety testing and tuning," Kim Chul-soo, senior researcher of Hyundai Motor, told The Korea Herald. The hybrid project is quickly gaining momentum with the latest national campaign to tackle rising oil prices. The government said on Wednesday it will offer tax breaks on hybrid vehicles beginning in 2008. Hybrid cars run on battery power at low speeds and switch to a traditional combustion engine at higher speeds. These engines get about 25 kilometers per liter - up to 50 percent greater fuel efficiency than gasoline-powered cars. Hyundai is considering introducing several hybrid models. Kia Motors Corp., the nation's No. 2 carmaker, is sharing research and technology facilities with Hyundai Motor. The fuel cell generates electricity from a chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. Although hailed as an ideal car to replace gasoline power, the fuel-cell vehicles are still in the middle of the development process, experts say. "Producing a fuel-cell car is still too expensive. Moreover, countries need to build hydrogen fueling stations before introducing these cars and such a project costs an enormous amount of money. We will wait at least until 2010 before seeing fuel-cell cars enter the market," said Yun Kyung-sun, a researcher at the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.
