Blue Drive
Hyundai’s Blue Drive™ technology is an umbrella for specialised eco-friendly vehicles which focus on CO2 emissions and low fuel consumptions.
The global Blue Drive strategy, aligns the research and development (R&D) resources of the Hyundai engineering centres in California, Michigan, Korea, India and Germany, to develop more fuel-efficient vehicle technologies. Key enablers are improvement and innovation in powertrains including gasoline direct injection (GDI), turbocharging, electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids, light-weight materials and creating a more efficient design language amongst others.
Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Hyundai is investing in the development of vehicles such as the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV), a technology which results in greater reduction in greenhouse emissions.
Hybrid Elective Vehicles combine the conventional power-train with an electric motor and the battery system. As a result, the HEV offers improved energy efficiency and an overall reduction in emissions. When compared to conventional petrol, the HEV provides a greater than 50% improvement in fuel economy, and a 15%+ reduction in total emissions.
Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles
Fuel Cell Elective Vehicles use hydrogen, methanol or natural gas as its main fuel source in reaction with oxygen, resulting in the outflow of electricity. Using hydrogen as a fuel source means the only emission from FCEV is H2O – water! Even when liquefied fuel sources are used, exhaust emissions are minimised with the exception of CO2. Further, FCEV offers a quiet ride, increased power and improved fuel economy.
The Blue Drive range
The full range of Blue Drive™ power trains will also include: petrol-electric hybrids, clean Diesels, flex-fuel (E85) cars, petrol-electric plug-ins and ultimately hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles. All of these vehicles will offer sub-100g/km range CO2 emission levels and further demonstrate Hyundai’s commitment to offering viable and sustainable solutions, and driving the company towards its target of global automotive leadership in environmentally-sensitive technologies.