SEOUL, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Hyundai Motor has unveiled its new all-electric vehicle, the Ioniq 5, a midsize crossover that will be the first to use the automaker's own battery electric platform.
Hyundai aims to launch 12 new electric vehicles by 2025.
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SEOUL, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Hyundai Motor has unveiled its new all-electric vehicle, the Ioniq 5, a midsize crossover that will be the first to use the automaker's own battery electric platform. Hyundai aims to launch 12 new electric vehicles by 2025.
The Ioniq 5, unveiled Tuesday, can go 300 miles on a single charge, the company said, adding that it takes less than 20 minutes to charge from 10 percent to 80 percent. Five minutes of charge can power a 60-mile trip.
"We will start rolling out the electric cars next month in our Ulsan [South Korea] factory," Hyundai Motor President Chang Jae-hoon said at the online event to announce the new vehicle. "They will hit the European market first before coming to Korea."
After Europe and Korea, the Ioniq 5 is expected to go on sale in the United States with a sticker price of more than $50,000 before government incentives.
"The Ioniq 5 will serve as a test of Hyundai Motor's dedicated EV platform," Hana Financial Investment analyst Song Sun-jae said.
Meanwhile, Hyundai's sister company Kia Corp. is set to unveil its first all-electric model by the end of March, aiming to come up with seven EVs by 2027.
"Hyundai Motor is trying to challenge Tesla's global dominance in the EV business. Toward that end, the company would put forth great efforts along with Kia Corp.," Kim Pil-soo, a professor of automotive studies at Daelim University, told UPI News Korea.
"The Ioniq 5 is the first step in the initiative. The model appears to have competitiveness. But it remains to be seen how Hyundai Motor deals with the recent Kona recalls," he said.
Hyundai came under criticism for a series of fires involving its Kona electric vehicles.
The carmaker said in a conference call Wednesday that it will globally recall 26,699 units of electric cars produced between November 2017 and March 2020. Most of them are Konas, which use batteries from LG Energy Solutions.
The Korean government is expected to release the results of its investigation into the fires soon.
The Ioniq 5 is part of a global expansion of EV offerings.
GM said in January it is investing $27 billion in electric and automated vehicles through 2025 and plans to launch 30 new EVs by then. The American automotive giant, which uses its Ultium platform for EVs, is working with the Environmental Defense Fund to develop an all-electric future and slash tailpipe emissions.
Ford is planning to produce an all-electric F-150 pickup truck to compete with Tesla's futuristic electric cybertruck and has announced plans to become carbon neutral within 30 years.