back in late 2021 there was a car that made one of the biggest splashes in korean automotive history
and it wasn't the kia ev6 or the genesis gv60 that received all the attention around the world but it
was a little car called hyundai casper a very friendly sounding casper stirred up korea not
only because of its very friendly starting price of just over ten thousand dollars u.s
but because it was the first hyundai city car to make introduction in korea in 20 years since its
ato city car was last produced in 2002 as soon as the reservation site was up the tiny casper
astoundingly took in nearly 20 000 units of order far exceeding the company's production plan of 12
000 units for 2022. this overwhelming success is indicative of how much people are thirsty
for simple transportation in a world filled with large vehicles with price tags that most people
aren't really able to afford although casper currently only comes as an ice version there
looks to be a similar kind of sensation that could rock the eevee world as well
in this episode we will look deeper into the small car fever that's sweeping korea and expect it to
flow over into evs in the near future so before we go on we'd highly appreciate your support by
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to like comment and vote on the question that's presented at the end of the video
as discussed in our prior episodes we talked about the remarkable progress that korean
brand has been making in the past decade were all three brands of the hyundai motor group
placing in their respective top spots as far as the jd power dependability rating is concerned
as well as sweeping the car of the year awards year after year the explosion of the accolades
has not been more apparent with the introduction of the outstanding electric vehicles that have
transformed the once cheap korean brands into a few of the most desirable brands in the automotive
industry however with the increase in the stature as a brand also increased were the prices
korean cars now command prices that are higher than most japanese competitors and are exceeding
german brands in some cases although the famous korean value for money proposition is still well
alive and kicking as witnessed in the recent price unveiling of the award-winning ionic 5 and the ev6
that undercuts the competition not only with the lower starting price but with better features and
technology for example there is a difference of more than 13 000 separating the equivalent ionic
5 long-range all-wheel drive version compared to 60 990 tesla model y while offering faster
charging speed with its state-of-the-art 800 volts charging speed and similar performance albeit with
a shorter epa range of 303 miles which is still outstanding for its price it's a tremendous value
considering americans paid an average of 46 036 dollars for a new car as of the end of 2021 an
increase of 5 266 from just one year ago the price surge is driven by many factors but mainly due to
the supply chain crisis making new cars scarce on dealership lots and higher sales of luxury cars
however even at the 40 000 starting price it's really too much money for many as the average
new car price was less than 35 000 just five years ago and that average transaction price for hyundai
kia still hovers around low 30 000 and to that end hyundai is not turning blind eye to the customer
base that has helped the company grow and prosper the korean auto giant is planning for a myriad of
affordable evs to not only hold on to its current customer base but to gain new customers that would
not have considered an electric vehicle with the evs as expensive as they are currently
we have already discussed hyundai's plan to introduce evs that would cost around 35 000
known as the ev4 and ionic 3 that are expected to hit the showrooms in 2023. both are based on the
ev6 and ionic 5 making them essentially a smaller version of the bigger brothers featuring the same
800 volt architecture and the egmp dedicated ev platform that offers innovative features such as
v2l and v2g bi-directional charging capability estimated to have a range of up to 250 miles or
400 kilometers the compact crossovers with a size similar to kia selto's will hit the
sweet spot for the vast majority of the people that desire practical electric daily commuter
as well as a weekend travel mate that offers seating for five and sufficient cargo space with
the expected long wheelbase of millimeters that's characteristic of the egmp based ev
the compact dedicated evs will offer sufficient room for five passengers as well as cargo space
which would be similar to nero ev nero ev is another outstanding electric vehicle that has
won jd power's highest customer satisfaction award for the mass market ev two years in a row
the latest second generation all-new nero ev which is slated for launch in mid 2022
features a fresh new body based on the new third generation platform and the concept car inspired
styling while maintaining the excellent 201 horsepower power electric system paired with
64 kilowatt hours battery that boasts up to 300 miles real range kia may have another winner on
its hands to be released at the end of the year 2022 hyundai will have its own version of nero
eevee as well which will be the next generation kona eevee to be sharing the same platform and
the same drivetrain as kia's version it will be a bigger and more competitive crossover than before
however the biggest drawback to the fantastic nero ev and kona ev is their charging speeds while egmp
exclusive ev platform-based evs such as ev4 and ionic 3 feature blazingly fast charging speed of
less than 20 minutes 10 to 80 percent owing to the 800 volt charging system the derivative evs nero
and kona will still feature 400 volt charging system which takes up to about 40 minutes to 80
percent however considering that such speed is the norm for just about every other evs on the market
like the vwi d3 id4 and mustang machi the pair of new compact evs from korea promised to be
the consumer's favorite and the best sellers as it's the case for the nero ev becoming the
best-selling eevee in all of europe recently kia outsold other evs like renault zoe and fiat 500 ev
which are smaller in comparison to nero ev but it won't be long before kia and hyundai
will have their own small electric vehicles to gain complete dominance in the eva marketplace
kia's next plan after the compact ev4 will be in the form of an a segment vehicle the
a segment by definition is the smallest vehicle size classification and is also known as a city
car in europe this class of cars includes models like fiat 500 and chevy spark in north america
mainly developed for the european market however the smallest evs to come from kia will be called
the ev1 recently a test mule of the much rumored a segment electric car was finally caught testing in
korea wearing the guise of kia rae which is kia's current city car that has been in the
market since 2011 long overdue for replacement and that replacement will be the ev1 expected to make
introduction in 2023 the smallest ev in the lineup will be utilizing a brand new power electric
system that shares the same lineage as the ford mustang maki's drivetrain borg warner an american
multinational company out of auburn hills michigan is to provide hyundai with the idm or integrated
drive module similar to the unit that was supplied to machi idm is an integrated unit that puts
together an electric motor gearbox and integrated power electronics to offer weight savings and
size reduction ideal for such a small car in the case of idm for the ev1 borg warner is supplying
the idm146 model built for the 400 volt charging system to offer a similar charging speed as mock
e which will support 150 kilowatts charging for 80 charge in about 40 minutes and gain 60
miles in 10 minutes as with machi the electric motor uses high voltage hairpin technology that
produces the highest efficiency and power density the peak output of this compact yet
highly sophisticated electric power system is up to an astounding 135 kilowatts or 181 horsepower
that's tremendous power for a small car to draw a comparison similarly powered and sized fiat
500 aubart 595 competition blaze zero to 60 miles per hour in just 6.6 seconds as for the range the
ev1 is expected to be powered by a 39 kilowatt hour battery lifted from the european kona ev
standard range and attain up to 200 miles or 320 kilometers which will be more than sufficient to
fulfill its role as an urban commuter car as for the size the ev1's overall length is anticipated
to be 150 inches or 3 800 millimeters with the size similar to the hyundai grand i10 city car
the extended version of the standard european i-10 that has limited availability in countries like
india the ev1 will be even smaller than currently the smallest crossover in kia's lineup sonic with
a length of 161 inches or 4090 millimeters but is bigger than the fiat 500 with 142 inches or
3600 millimeters in length being similar to honda ease 153 inches or 3900 millimeters
the exterior design has not been exposed as of yet but it's reported that it would be an
evolution of kia rey's boxy miniaturized mpv with seoul's funky vibe mixed in which would
work out really nicely for a fun city car at the expected price to start from less than 25 000
the first electric city car from kia will be cheaper faster and drive a longer distance charges
faster and bigger compared to another a segment electric car fiat 500 which has a us dollar
equivalent price tag of 28 000 for the standard 24 kilowatt hours battery version that only renders
115 miles of claimed range while offering only 94 horsepower the much more expensive 42 kilowatt
hours battery version offers a similar 200 mile range but the price is equivalent to 46 500
which falls in the ev6 territory the b segment zoe is a bigger car with a length of 161 inches or 4
100 millimeters with a 52 kilowatt hours battery good for 239 miles claimed range but comes with a
price tag of seven thousand six hundred pounds or thirty seven thousand dollars however this price
can be reduced to twenty thousand pounds if you choose to purchase the car without the battery
for about fifty pounds a month you can choose to lease the battery instead to reduce the vehicle
price significantly which is not surprising as battery cost can account for up to 40 percent of
the entire car and also not surprisingly hyundai is considering adopting such a pricing structure
for its evs especially for its entry-level models and if implemented the price of the ev1 would be
reduced to a sub 20 000 level which would be how much the car would be worth if it was an ice car
with the likely starting price of 19 000 for the daily commuter with style performance and
functionality kia would be selling as many ev1's as it pleases for those of you who are loyal to
the hyundai brand you needn't worry as hyundai would have its own version known as ionic 1
with the same specifications and size but based on the design of the casper mini suv
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as for the end of the video question would you be more inclined to purchase an ev if
the sales price can be reduced by using the battery leasing program please vote
and share your views by clicking on the link in the comment section below or in the description
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