August 27, 2026 - Hyundai to Launch Santa Fe EREV In Early 2027

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for August 27, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry. 

At its Investor Day in Seoul yesterday, Hyundai Motor Company CEO Jose Munoz made a number of important announcements about the brand's plans through the remainder of this decade. The larger Hyundai Motor Group, which also includes the Genesis and Kia brands, has been on a roll this decade, growing to become the third-largest automaker group in the world with real potential to surpass the Volkswagen Group, potentially as early as the end of this year. 

According to Munoz, Hyundai is planning to launch or significantly refresh 100 models globally, including 58 models for the North American market. Hyundai is already one of the top manufacturers of electrified vehicles, including hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery EVs and is targeting the xEV share of its sales to go from 23% to 60% by the end of the decade. Part of that growth plan involves the introduction of extended-range EVs, or EREVs, into its lineup. Like BEVs, EREVs use only electric motors to drive the wheels. However, they use a slightly smaller battery and add an internal combustion engine driving a generator to extend the total range. Hyundai first announced plans to add EREVs that are already very popular in China back in 2024, but now we have the first details. The first Hyundai EREV will be a version of the Santa Fe midsize crossover debuting in the first half of 2027. The Santa Fe EREV will be produced at Hyundai's factory in Alabama and is targeting a total range of more than 600 miles, with electric range likely to be about 130 to 150 miles. The Genesis premium brand will also get an EREV in early 2027, but Munoz didn't reveal which model this would be. With the GV80 already announced to get a hybrid option in the coming months, the new full-size GV90 that just debuted as a BEV seems like it might be a candidate.

Hyundai also confirmed that it will start deliveries of the Ioniq 5 robotaxi to Waymo in the fourth quarter of 2026 from its factory near Savannah, Georgia. The same base vehicle will also be used by its Motional subsidiary when it begins driverless commercial services later this year. Hyundai will also start testing its Atria AI for automated driving in Korea this year and is targeting hands-free capability to be launched by 2028 and eventually growing the capability to Level 4 automation. With all this and more in its roadmap, Hyundai is clearly not planning to slow down anytime soon and very likely hopes to eventually surpass Toyota, while also aiming to stay ahead of Chinese competitors. 

Thanks for listening.