Hyundai adds a hybrid Sonata for 2011
Published: 12:00 a.m., Sunday, December 5, 2010
Hyundai is the latest automaker to join the hybrid ranks with the coming introduction of the 2011 Sonata gasoline-electric hybrid sedan.
Unlike the best-selling Toyota Prius hybrid, though, the Hyundai model uses the same body and chassis as the newest generation of the Sonata, which came on the market earlier this year, also as a 2011 model.
Although the vehicle is set to go on sale later this month, Hyundai still hasn’t announced the pricing, but I expect the hybrid model to begin in the mid-$20,000s. The similar Toyota Camry Hybrid starts at $26,575 (plus freight), so the Sonata won’t be any more than that, and probably will be a bit less.
Featuring Hyundai’s own Direct Hybrid Blue Drive system, the Sonata has a four-cylinder gasoline engine combined with an electric motor to produce EPA fuel-economy ratings of 36 mpg city/40 highway, the South Korean automaker says.
That compares with 31 city/35 highway for the Camry Hybrid and 41 city/36 highway for the Ford Fusion Hybrid, both of which are midsize, five-passenger sedans like the Sonata. The Prius five-door hatchback has the best fuel economy of the bunch, though — 51 city/48 highway, and it also seats five.
The Sonata’s drive system was “entirely developed in-house by Hyundai” and includes several “technical firsts,” the company says, allowing it to “provide performance and efficiency improvements not available in other hybrids.”
Unlike most other hybrids now on the market, the Sonata can go up to 62 mph on electric power alone, producing zero tailpipe emissions. Range on electric power alone is limited to a mile or so, however, as it is in most other hybrids.
The Sonata uses a 1.4-kilowatt-hour lithium-polymer battery pack that weighs only 95.9 pounds, versus 123.9 pounds for the Camry Hybrid’s nickel-metal-hydride battery. But Hyundai says that even with the lighter weight, the Sonata’s battery is 10 percent more efficient than the Camry’s.
Another plus is the expected life of the battery pack, which Hyundai says shouldn’t have to be replaced during the 10-year life of the car. It also holds its charge 25 percent longer than a nickel-metal-hydride battery, which means it will have more available power after sitting for several days without charging or use.
Toyota, the industry leader in hybrid vehicles, does not yet use lithium-type batteries in its U.S. hybrid fleet. Nissan’s new Leaf electric car and Chevrolet’s new Volt plug-in hybrid, both of which will be introduced this month, have lithium-ion batteries. Hyundai says its lithium-polymer battery is “the next generation of lithium-ion” battery technology and is “ideally suited to automotive applications.”
The Sonata uses a 30-kilowatt electric motor combined with a conventional six-speed automatic transmission, rather than having to use a continuously variable transmission as most other current hybrids do. The transmission is essentially the same one used in the gasoline-only versions of the 2011 Sonata.
Up to 151 foot-pounds of torque is available from the Sonata’s electric motor on startup, and the motor is connected to the transmission’s input to replace the torque converter. A multidisc clutch pack is used inside the electric motor to disconnect it from the 2.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine for electric-motor-only operation.
A second electric motor in the Sonata is used to start the gasoline engine, and it converts to a generator to recharge the battery pack as well. It’s called the Hybrid Starter-Generator, and it’s belt-driven from the gasoline engine like a traditional alternator. But the Hyundai starter-generator operates at 270 volts rather than the 12 volts used by a regular car alternator.
As with other Sonata models and most hybrids on the market, the Sonata Hybrid has electric power steering and an electrically operated air-conditioning compressor. In conventional cars, these systems usually are powered by belts off of the engine, but that doesn’t work well for a hybrid because the gasoline engine is designed to stop automatically when the car comes to a stop and to remain off when the car is running just on the electric motor.
The Sonata Hybrid’s gasoline engine uses the so-called Atkinson cycle system that also is used in many other hybrid models, including those Ford uses in the Fusion sedan and Escape crossover hybrids.
On the Sonata, the gasoline engine by itself provides 166 horsepower and 154 foot-pounds of torque. Together, the electric motor and gasoline engine turn out 206 horsepower and 193 foot-pounds of torque (not all of the torque of the electric motor and the gasoline engine are available at the same time).
Hyundai says the Sonata is the lightest hybrid in its segment, as well — 3,483 pounds. That’s 237 pounds lighter than the Fusion Hybrid.
While the Sonata hybrid has the same general exterior design as its gasoline-only counterpart — what Hyundai calls “fluidic sculpture” — there are some differences. Those include “reshaped front and rear fascias with a deeper air dam, extended rocker panels and lower drag wheels,” which “allow the air to flow around the body with less resistance,” the company says.
That helps give the Sonata Hybrid a very low 0.25 coefficient of drag, the measure of how much wind resistance a vehicle has. That’s even better than the 0.27 coefficient of drag of the 2011 Nissan GT-R sports car.
Gasoline-only models of the 2011 Sonata range from $19,195 to $27,045 (plus $720 freight).
Hyundai already was the industry leader in fuel efficiency, and that position led the company to eliminate the V-6 engine option from newest Sonata.
Under the hood of all 2011 Sonata gasoline models is a new 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with 198 horsepower and 184 foot-pounds of torque. That beats the top competitors in the midsize sedan class, including the Honda Accord (177 horsepower), Toyota Camry (169), Nissan Altima and Ford Fusion (175), and Chevrolet Malibu (169).
With a dual-exhaust system on the SE (sport) model, this engine is rated at 200 horsepower. It’s also the first four-cylinder engine in the segment with gasoline direct injection, which helps increase fuel efficiency. Even with the extra power, this engine will beat all of the above competitors in fuel economy.
EPA ratings are 23 mpg city/35 highway with the automatic transmission and 23/34 with the manual. That compares with 22/33 for the Camry four-cylinder, 22/31 for the Accord, 23/31 for the Altima, 23/34 for the Fusion and 22/33 for the Malibu (with automatic transmissions).
G. Chambers Williams III has been the Express-News automotive columnist since early 2000. Contact him at (210) 250-3236; chambers@express-news.net.
