South Koreas Hyundai Motor has unveiled its first-ever zero emission electric bus, dubbed Elec City, scheduled for launch next year. Elec City is Hyundais first mass-produced commercial electric vehicle, which the company has worked on for the past eight years.
We plan to gradually install high-tech safety features in commercial vehicles and develop eco-friendly public transportations to release a variety of products that fulfill social needs, said Yoo Jai-young, head of Hyundai Motors commercial vehicle division, at the opening ceremony of the event held at Hyundai Motor Studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.
The latest electric bus runs on four 64 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion polymer batteries, with a driving distance of 290 kilometers, and produces a maximum speed of 93 kilometers per hour, the company said. Fully charging the Elec City takes 67 minutes, using an European Type 2 charging inlet.
The electric bus is anticipated to come with a price tag of at least 200 million won ($179,100), excluding the 100 million won subsidy provided by the Ministry of Environment, a company official said.
According to Hyundai Motor, maintenance fees for a unit of an electric bus amounts to about 160 million won, which is 270 million won cheaper than compressed natural gas buses currently on roads.