Hyundai Motor Co., one of the early proponents of hydrogen vehicles is now reportedly going on the offensive in the market now dominated by Tesla. The South Korean automaker is reportedly planning to launch a couple of production lines. According to a new report, these facilities would be reportedly dedicated to electric vehicles, which would start in 2021 and 2024.

Hyundai Races Against Tesla

A recent report from Reuters bares Hyundai's plans in the coming years to the electric vehicle market. The publication cites an internal union newsletter as the source of information. Hyundai has held talks with various battery producers such as SK Group, Samsung and LG to secure a stable supply of electric vehicle battery as the competition in EV surges, the report revealed.

According to the report, these talks with battery producers were publicly announced. The manufacturers that Hyundai sat down with are the same battery makers that supply to EV companies like Tesla, GM and Volkswagen. Moreover, the report revealed that Hyundai is currently working with Korean battery suppliers to 'scale up' its electric vehicles' production in a more efficient way.

 

Hyundai is one of the carmakers that has dedicated so much focus on hydrogen cars. In fact, it is one of the few companies to invest in the said technology heavily. However, in terms of electric vehicle, the South Korean automaker lagged behind.

In 2019, Hyundai achieved an interesting sales performance in electric vehicles selling over 86,000 units. It is more than what Volkswagen sold in the same time period. But compared to Tesla's sales, it is far behind. While Hyundai was not vocal about it, it looks like it has already set its eyes on Tesla as its greatest rival.

Other Details

Some auto enthusiasts believe that Tesla's presence in South Kore triggered Hyundai to act. Moreover, the U.S electric vehicle maker surpassed Hyundai's sales in electric vehicles in its own home country. But as reported by Reuters citing an insider, the South Korean carmaker had not paid much attention to Elon Musk's company when it was just producing luxury vehicles.

However, with the Tesla Model 3 sedan's release, helping the company report its first annual profit, things have reportedly changed for Hyundai. The South Korean vehicle maker is the world's fifth-largest car manufacturing company. Most likely, it would not take Tesla's impressive feat in the auto world sitting down.

In 2019, the electric vehicle market achieved 2.2 billion sales, while it plummeted this year because of the pandemic, the industry is still lucrative.