Hyundai-Kia hybrids use ‘breakthrough’ battery technologies

Hyundai-Kia hybrids use ‘breakthrough’ battery technologies
Namyang, South Korea — Globe and Mail Update
Published on Thursday, May. 13, 2010 11:43AM EDT

Last updated on Thursday, May. 13, 2010 12:32PM EDT


While they may be late coming to the hybrid party when they arrive later this year, Hyundai and Kia will bring fresh thinking and technology.

Gasoline-electric hybrid versions of the Hyundai Sonata are to roll into dealerships in the last quarter of 2010 and the Kia version – clothed in the next-generation Magentis – will follow a few months later. They will go head-to-head with existing mid-size hybrids like the Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion, but will raise the bar on both the gasoline and electric side of the fuel-saving equation.

While they operate under separate design and marketing entities, Hyundai and Kia share engineering and development resources – lots of them. The Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group has 10,000 scientists and engineers in the research and development department with a $4-billion operating budget. It has already produced thousands of gasoline-electric hybrids, including LPG-electric versions, hundreds of plug-in hybrids and dozens of third-generation, fuel-cell vehicles.


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Determined to leapfrog the Japanese, the first Hyundai and Kia hybrids coming to North America will include advances in engine, transmission and battery technologies. They will use a four-cylinder engine operating on the Atkinson cycle like the competition, but boast direct injection. Instead of the oft-criticized continuously variable transmission (CVT), the Sonata/Magentis will offer a conventional six-speed automatic. And where current hybrids use nickel-metal hydride batteries with lithium-ion units on the near horizon, the Sonata/Magentis pair will employ the first lithium-polymer batteries.

The two will use the usual tricks like tall gearing, low-rolling-resistance tires, low-drag aerodynamics and engine start/stop. But their proprietary hybrid system promises the biggest improvements, especially for highway mileage.

The system, which Hyundai will call Blue Drive and Kia ECOdrive, is a conventional parallel hybrid in that the car can operate on an 2.4-litre, 169-horsepower gasoline engine, an electric motor or both. But this one will use a lithium-polymer battery pack that weighs 43.6 kg compared to 56.3 kg for the nickel-metal-hydride unit in the Camry, which has almost identical energy capacity. It is also 50 per cent smaller and 10 per cent more efficient.

The “breakthrough” lightweight, compact 1.6-kilowatt-hour/270-volt lithium-polymer battery pack was developed with partner LG Chemical Limited, which will also provide batteries for the upcoming Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric car. It will be paired with a 40-horsepower electric motor, driving the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. The engine-motor pairing results in 209 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque (You can’t simply add the output of the engine and electric motor as their power peaks at different points).

A second, 11.5-horsepower, electric starter-generator will be employed to restart the engine and provide some recharging assist for the main battery pack.

The lithium-polymer batteries have 175 per cent greater volumetric efficiency allowing them to be smaller and lighter while producing the same power. They also hold their charge 20 per cent longer. Compared to lithium-ion batteries that the rest of the industry is about to introduce, the lithium-polymer units last longer, cost less to make and have a higher energy density according to Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group scientists. They also claim lithium-polymer offers “more thermal robustness” than the lithium-ion batteries used in cell phones and laptops. The Sonata/Magentis battery pack will have a warranty of 10 years or 244,000 km.

The principal overall difference between the Sonata/Magentis hybrids and others is that they have been developed to maximize highway mileage compared to those currently on the market, which emphasize city mileage.

The Sonata/Magentis hybrids will offer a 40 per cent increase in city mileage compared to models equipped with the normal 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine, while also offering best-in-class highway mileage.

The Toyota/Ford systems use a CVT with integrated electric motor. The Sonata/Magentis use a six-speed automatic with an electric motor replacing the torque converter. The goal is 6.4 litres/100 km in the city and 6.0 on the highway, which would put them well ahead of the current mid-size hybrids.

The South Korean hybrids are also designed to travel at up to 100 km/h on battery power alone. The current champ is the Fusion Hybrid at 75 km/h.

The Sonata/Magentis also promise the best performance because of the combination of more power and less weight – they tip the scales at 120 kg less than the best of the current crop, the Fusion.