This spring, Hyundai showed the new generation of the Sonata , and just before the end of the year, it will be followed by the economical version of the Hybrid . The car received a unique design, advanced safety features, a spacious interior and luggage compartment, but above all a new hybrid drive unit . Thanks to it, the Sonata can now boast the lowest fuel consumption in its category.
The Sonata Hybrid is equipped with a two-liter Nu GDI four-cylinder gasoline engine with an output of 156 hp and a torque of 189 Nm. This is linked to a 38 kW electric motor , which allows the Sonata to achieve a combined fuel consumption of 5.5 liters per 100 km. The environmentally optimized design of the body also contributes to this, guaranteeing the car a lower air resistance coefficient.
The hybrid is able to obtain electrical energy at low engine load, possibly by recuperation in the braking system . In the event that the vehicle stops and the electrical load is low, the engine is switched off to reduce fuel consumption and emission production . The Sonata Hybrid also has a six-speed automatic transmission with a lighter torsional vibration damper, as well as a clutch and an electric oil pump that replaced the mechanical one. The capacity of lithium-ion batteries also increased by 13.3% to the resulting 1.62 kWh. The batteries have now moved under the luggage compartment, increasing the capacity of transported cargo by more than 10 percent.
In line with Hyundai's goals to become number two in the global environment-friendly car market by 2020, the Korean carmaker will gradually expand its range of environmentally friendly cars called Blue Drive in all segments. For this reason, the current offer will be joined by a plug-in hybrid version of the Sonata in 2015, and in the second half of the year by the first specialized pure hybrid model . This will complete Hyundai's range of ecological models.
Source: Hyundai
