As the fight to make electric cars more accessible and more capable grows, it's interesting to see which manufacturer's are making the greatest gains. According to new data, it could be Hyundai and Kia.
The two Korean car manufacturers don't necessarily come with the EV cache of the likes of Tesla, but they've clearly made inroads with models like the Hyundai Ioniq EV, Kona EV, or Kia Niro EV.
According to data reported by Business Korea, electric cars produced by Hyundai and Kia account for a combined 9.9 per cent share of global EV sales — a colossal increase over the two brands' 2.05 per cent EV market share reported in 2016.
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Hyundai and Kia may share some platforms and technology over their respective line-ups, but it's worth remembering that the duo are run as separate companies often with very different regional business models.
For some local reference, registrations of Hyundai and Kia EVs totalled a third of all new fully electric car registrations in New Zealand last year. The Kona EV, Ioniq EV, and Niro EV were the counry's second, third, and ninth best sellers respectively.
It's worth noting, however, that local EV uptake remained relatively humble, with only 1881 new EVs registered for New Zealand's roads last year. Ford sold 9485 Ranger utes during the same period.
Globally, almost 300,000 EVs sold in the first three months of 2020, with Hyundai and Kia's sales share totalling 28,796 according to MarkLines. The numbers implicate another interesting factoid; Hyundai and Kia's combined sales share in EVs is greater than its combined 8.9 per cent sales share in internal combustion vehicles.
The two brands are set to keep their foot on the gas (pun intended) in the coming years, too. Together they're working on a wireless fast-charging system, and both have struck a relationship with supercar maker Rimac to go all in on a co-developed mid-engined sports car.
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New Zealand's top 10 best selling EVs of 2019
1. Tesla Model 3 — 657
2. Hyundai Kona EV — 395
3. Hyundai Ioniq EV — 160
4. Volkswagen e-Golf — 107
5. Audi e-tron — 92
6. Jaguar i-Pace — 91
7. Tesla Model X — 89
8. Nissan Leaf — 84
9. Kia Niro EV — 72
10. Tesla Model S — 56