Hyundai Will Launch 38 New Electrified Models over the Next 8 Years

Hyundai and sibling brand Kia have a diverse array of green cars. Between their two lineups, the Korean duo have hybrids, plug-in hybrids, all-electric cars, and one hydrogen fuel-cell model. But Hyundai's green-car push is just getting started.

The automaker plans to launch 38 new electrified models over the next eight years, senior vice president Lee Ki-sang said at a recent press conference. Seven of those models will arrive between now and 2025. Most of the new cars will be battery-electric, with hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and fuel-cell cars presumably filling out the roster. Lee is fairly bullish on electric cars, having previously said they could account for 90 percent of new-car sales after 2025 if new battery tech develops.

Hyundai and Kia have made impressive strides in electrified cars over the last few years, but they still have a long way to go to become true leaders.

The Ioniq Electric is Hyundai's only true mass-market battery-electric car at the moment. Sales of the Kia Soul EV are limited to markets deemed sufficiently electric-car friendly. In the United States, it's only sold at select Kia dealers in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington state. The Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell is sold only in California due to lack of hydrogen fueling infrastructure.

Hyundai also offers hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of the Ioniq and Sonata, while Kia has Optima and Niro hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants. However, the Koreans are far behind Toyota in terms of the number of hybrids in their lineups, as well as hybrid sales volumes.

The 38 new models may sound ambitious, but with other automakers also announcing grandiose electrification plans, it may just be what's necessary for Hyundai to keep up with the competition. That figure likely also includes redesigns of some existing models that will occur over the next few years. We already know that Hyundai is planning a new fuel-cell crossover to replace the Tucson Fuel Cell.

It will also be interesting to see how Hyundai's Genesis luxury brand plays into all of this. Will Genesis pull the trigger on a production hydrogen luxury car, as hinted at by its GV80 concept? That could be an industry first.