Hyundai readying plug-in hybrid Sonata?— Autoblog Green

2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid– Click above for high-res image gallery

Back in August,Hyundaichief executive officer John Krafcik boldly claimed that the Korean automaker will shoot for a50-mile-per-gallon fleet average by 2025. Reaching that lofty mark has Hyundai rethinking its model lineup. In the near future, Hyundai willwheel out a Prius-like dedicated gas-electricvehicle and aims to launch more hybrid versions of its current gasoline-fueled models. What we want to know is: what's the chance of seeing a Sonata plug-in hybrid?

According to Mike O'Brien, Hyundai's head of product planning, a plug-in Sonata is definitely doable and, in fact, is significantly easier to develop than one might think. On the sidelines of this year'sDetroit Auto Show,Plugin Carscaught up with O'Brien and prodded him about the automaker's plug-in plans. O'Brien responded:

Our technology development in hybrids was specifically to address the issue of future plug-in deployment. Other manufacturers' hybrid systems were developed in such a way to not allow them to easily develop plug-in hybrids. For the Sonata Hybrid to become a plug-in hybrid, really all we need are bigger batteries. The basic technology platform is already designed to support a plug-in variation

While Hyundai trails some automakers that have alreadyventured down the plug-in hybrid path, O'Brien explained that Hyundai doesn't intend to lag behind for long:

Look for something very soon, potentially one of the upcoming auto shows in the next six months to a year.

Oh, we will.

Gallery:2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid: Second Drive

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Photos copyright©2010 Zach Bowman / AOL

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