After Honda and its failed Insight, Hyundai is next in line to challenge Toyota’s Prius with a new model that will be offered exclusively as a hybrid.
We first spied Hyundai’s dedicated hybrid model resting on a trailer in January without being sure that it was the firm’s Prius rival, but our sources have since confirmed the Korean brand’s plans.
This time, the production prototype was scooped on the road with our spy getting close enough to nab a quick shot of the rear passenger compartment with a sea of plastic covering the doors.
The shape of the compact model has a certain Toyota Prius-meets-Chevrolet Volt vibe to it, but we can’t tell what’s going on with the front and rear ends of the car behind all that camouflage.
In our previous encounter with the tester, our spies had looked underneath the car where they discovered high voltage orange cables and a sticker on the suspension arms that read “AE HEV”, with “AE” likely standing for the car’s internal codename, and “HEV” for “Hybrid Electric Vehicle”.
Hyundai hasn’t disclosed any details about the car’s powertrain, but it is likely to use a 1.6-liter gas engine and an electric motor with lithium batteries. A plug-in hybrid version could be in the works as well.
Reports indicate that the car is due in 2016 as a 2017 model.
Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops
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