Hyundai Accent Hybrid
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Hyundai is not planning to bring hybrid vehicles to the North American market until most likely 2009. It is speculated that the first vehicle will be a redesigned version of the Hyundai Accent. A full hybrid version of the Accent is already being produced in Korea, but only in very small quantities.
If the Accent exports to the North American market it will be more of an experiment than anything else: "The number that we ship to the United States will be very few, to see the reaction, I don't think we can make a profit with hybrids in the United States," says Lee Hyun Soon of Hyundai.
The 2005 Portico concept car was one of Hyundai's first ventures into hybrid technology and is powered by Hyundai’s new Lambda 3.3 liter V6 engine. The Lambda V6, which appeared this year as an option on the new 2006 Sonata, led to speculation the Sonata would be the first hybrid available from Hyundai. This may come true however Hyundai has not officially released any time lines for their hybrid offerings.
For the North American market it is uncertain if the Hyundai hybrids will be mild or full hybrids, but what is fairly certain is that they will be built on proprietary hybrid technology unlike the Ford Escape or Nissan Altima hybrids (which are built with licensed Toyota hybrid technology).
Pricing
No North American models are available at this time.
Gas Mileage
It is estimated that the Accent Hybrid (after conversion to North American ratings) would achieve approximately 45 miles per gallon.
