Hyundai is developing an SUV on its new electric platform, report says

Hyundai is reportedly developing a compact SUV on the new platform that it’s building exclusively for electric vehicles.

The carmaker is working on an SUV prototype for its upcoming Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), BusinessKorea reports, with plans to start building said prototype in October.

While Hyundai already announced its intentions to introduce a new electric car on a dedicated EV platform in 2020, this new report both updates the progress of the platform’s development, and indicates that Hyundai is looking to debut the platform in an SUV.

The prototype has been given the project name NE, and Hyundai plans on completing the vehicle by the end of the year. The carmaker is also reportedly close to selecting a main battery supplier.

According to the report, Hyundai plans on introducing the prototype around next June, with a mass production model expected by early 2021.

Details about the vehicle are largely unknown, but it’s said to be a crossover/compact SUV which may be able to reach 450 km (280 miles) on a single charge.

Hyundai Motor Group has previously set a goal to introduce 44 electrified models by 2025. An EV platform should help the company in that regard.

Though the automaker already has an all-electric SUV — the Kona EV, pictured above — that SUV is based on an existing ICE platform, as are the motor group’s Kia brand EVs, like the Niro EV.

Electrek’s Take

Hyundai’s EV platform seems to be progressing according the company’s announced timeline. If the company does introduce the platform with a new compact electric SUV as this seems to indicate, that would make a lot of sense, even with similar electric models like the Kona and Kia Niro out there — the public’s appetite for SUVs doesn’t seem to be going away, especially in the US.

As always with Hyundai, there are questions of how the carmaker will pursue its electrification goals when considering its long-standing dedication to the future of fuel cell vehicles. Maybe the debut of the company’s EV platform — and incidents which can cause the halt of fuel cell car sales — can push Hyundai to truly focus on an electric future.