Kia to introduce Hyundai i10-based electric vehicle by the end of 2011

Kia has announced that it will build an electric vehicle based on the Hyundai i10 BlueOn previewed at the Frankfurt Auto Show last month, with plans for more EVs by 2014.

Kia will introduce a small electric vehicle by the end of 2011, with more to follow in 2014. Hyundai Motor Group, the company that includes Hyundai and Kia, has not said whether the new EV will be sold in the United States, but it has been named the TAM project and will be based on the Hyundai i10 BlueOn electric minicar, much like the one that's pictured that appeared at the Frankfurt Auto Show last month.

Kia will add a compact electric vehicle in the first half of 2014, while Hyundai will launch their own compact electric vehicle in the second half of 2015. Kia will build 2,000 of the i10-based electric vehicles in 2012, according to Hyundai's announcement at the Green Car Symposium in Gwangju, South Korea this week. Hyundai has already been testing a small fleet of the i10 EVs, and they say that they're ready to begin small-scale mass production for the TAM project.

Though Kia began selling the Optima Hybrid and Hyundai the Sonata Hybrid earlier this year, South Korea's largest automotive conglomerate has been falling behind its other Asian competitors like Nissan and Mitsubishi, who are each already selling or getting ready to sell their own fully-electric vehicles. However, Hyundai Motor Group says EVs are definitely part of the company's overall strategy to meet toughening emissions and fuel economy standards across the globe.

Source: Automotive News