New electric cars at Hyundai
The E-GMP architecture was designed exclusively for battery-electric drives, at least for the time being.
Rüsselsheim It doesn’t work without it. Anyone who wants to have a significant say in the future of e-mobility in the automotive industry needs a vehicle architecture that is consistently designed for electric drives. This is the only way to implement the whole thing efficiently and economically. The buzzwords are “modular structure” and “high scalability”.
Volkswagen was the first brand to implement this principle on a large scale with the MEB (modular electrification kit). The Hyundai Motor Group with its brands Hyundai, Kia and Genesis recently presented a very similar plan. At the Korean company, the new architecture is called E-GMP. The abbreviation stands for Electric-Global-Modular-Platform.
E-GMP was designed exclusively for battery-electric drives, at least for the time being. The integration of the fuel cell is also under discussion. However, petrol, diesel, hybrid (HEV) and plug-in hybrid drives (PHEV) are definitely left out.
E-GMP can be used extremely flexibly. Different wheelbases allow different numbers of battery modules. A maximum range of 500 kilometers should be possible. On the drive side, the Hyundai Group also relies on full variability. In its base, E-GMP has the electric motor and thus also the rear drive. In an all-wheel drive variant, an electric motor is also located on the front axle.
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“The new platform can handle up to 600 hp,” says development chief Albert Biermann. Equipped in this way, the Stromer should accelerate from zero to 100 km / h in less than 3.5 seconds and achieve a top speed of 260 km / h. At Hyundai, analogous to the combustion versions, there will be electric performance models (N models).
Current flow in both directions
Which type of body is ultimately put on the platform like a hat depends on the customer’s usage profile and what is most in demand at the moment: sedans, SUV and crossover models, from the C-segment (Golf size) to the E-segment (upper class). Even vans are under discussion. Keyword robo-taxis.
As early as May, Hyundai plans to launch the Ioniq 5, its first E-GMP model in Germany. We hear from Korea that Kia plans to launch an electric crossover in 2021. This is followed by various SUVs. Genesis could also come up with an electric luxury sedan, if you really want to establish the brand in Europe. The latest battery technology is installed in each case. Compared to today’s batteries of the group (Hyundai Ioniq, Hyundai Kona Elektro, Kia e-Soul, Kia e-Niro), a ten percent higher energy density is promised, achieved among other things through better cooling.
New E-GMP electrical platform
The platform is the basis for the Koreans’ e-offensive.
Like BMW with its luxury SUV iX, Hyundai also combines the drive system into a compact unit for the E-GMP. It consists of an electric motor, gearbox and inverter. When it comes to the high-voltage system, the Koreans are on par with Porsche and Audi. It was also decided to use 800 volts in order to achieve the shortest possible charging times. In just five minutes, a range of 100 kilometers can be “refilled”.
E-GMP vehicles can also be connected to 400-volt charging stations. On top of that. Even the direction of the current flow is flexible and therefore superior to the MEB from Volkswagen in another respect. “We can supply external electrical devices with 110 and 220 volt alternating current or charge another e-vehicle if necessary,” says Albert Biermann.
The Hyundai Group does not want to regard its billion-dollar E-GMP as a sanctuary and use it only for itself. The company is aware of the great global demand for high-tech platforms of this type and plans to offer them to other manufacturers for sale. VW does the same with the MEB. After all, the Wolfsburg-based company was able to negotiate a deal with Ford. Their next electric car (after the Mustang Mach-E) will then be powered by Volkswagen technology.
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