Did Hyundai CEO Just Tease a Full-Size Electric Hyundai Pickup Truck?
Hyundai has advanced its position in the car world quicker than most other companies. The once-budget brand is now a formidable carmaker making some of the better cars on the market. The ever-practical Hyundai Santa Cruz is the latest example of the brand’s ability to shift on the plate and crank a home run. Now Hyundai’s CEO seems to be teasing another Hyundai truck, this time a full-size electric Hyundai pickup truck.
Is Hyundai making a full-size electric truck?
HMG president and CEO Jaehoon Chang said, “In the second-generation platform, the scope of vehicle development extends beyond the mid-sized SUVs covered by the current E-GMP system. It encompasses nearly all vehicle classes, ranging from small and large SUVs to pickup trucks, along with the flagship models of the Genesis brand.”
Hyundai and Kia have not been shy about the push toward EVs. Business Korea wrote, “Hyundai Motor Group (HMG includes Kia and Genesis) sold 510,000 battery-electric vehicles in 2022. The conglomerate says it now plans to sell two million EVs annually by 2030, up from a previous estimate of 1.87 million.”
The platform is set to take HMG down the EV road is called the eM platform. This new EV system will supposedly launch under a Kia sedan described as the “spiritual successor” to the Kia Stinger. Autoblog says the eM platform will be the base for 13 models over the coming years. This platform will serve the entire HMG umbrella.
Wait, there’s a body-on-frame pickup truck from Kia!?!?
While Chang’s comment could have been just a show of what the eM could do, it doesn’t feel that way. Autoblog reports that at Kia’s Investor Day last year, the brand mentioned that it was planning for two pickup truck models. Also, some reports suggest that Kia is working on a body-on-frame pickup truck for the Aussie market.
These reports are interesting because no matter what happens, we know that trucks are on the minds of the team behind HMG.
Is Hyundai really ready for an electric pickup truck?
The fact of the matter is that full-size electric pickup trucks promise to be a big earner for many car makers in the coming years. If regular gas and diesel pickup trucks are among the most popular segments in the U.S., then EV makers have to turn those stones over. Considering the stiff competition on the electric truck front, Hyundai’s step into the electric truck game will have to bring something unique to the table, like it already did with the Santa Cruz.
That said, Autoblog mentions that if Hyundai makes a BOF truck for Australia, it is tapping into more rarified air. The Ford F-150 Lightning is a proper body-on-frame truck, but few other prominent electric trucks are. The Chevrolet Silverado EV, Rivian R1T, Telsa Cybertruck, GMC Hummer EV and Sierra EV, Ram 1500 Revolution, and Rivian R1T are closer to unibodies with their skateboard chassis’. It would be a strange turn indeed if Hyundai made one of the few proper electric trucks.
The HMG is going on in on future tech. The strides HMG has made in the last 10 years are amazing. If half of the things Hyundai and Kia plan to do happen, the next 10 years might be even crazier.
