Aditi Sharma

NEW DELHI, Reuters – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co announced Wednesday that it would invest $40 billion ($530 million), to bring six electric cars to India by 2028. This will allow for clean driving in a nation with many of the most polluted areas in the world. 

India’s second biggest carmaker Hyundai is set to launch an affordable range of premium electric vehicles, such as sedans and sport utility cars (SUVs), starting in 2022. Tarun Garg will be the director of sales and marketing for Hyundai Motor India.

Garg said that India wants to play a significant role in the EV story.

In a statement, Hyundai’s Indian arm stated that the money will be used to research and develop six new vehicles.

Global automakers are embracing EVs because of stricter emission regulations from governments. By 2030, this figure is expected to rise to 25%.

EVs are currently less than 1% for India’s car sales. But, India has set a goal to have 30% of all cars sold by 2030. 

Hyundai’s plan also comes as Tesla (NASDAQ) Inc, the world’s largest electric carmaker, is preparing to launch cars in India. Inc has been lobbying the government reut.rs/3hWd2Ok for lower import duties.

Hyundai joins rivals Tata Motors (NYSE:) and Mahindra & Mahindra in throwing its weight behind EVs at a time when India is pushing automakers to go electric as it looks to reduce pollution and fuel imports. Maruti Suzuki (the country’s biggest carmaker) is betting on hybrid and alternative fuels, and anticipates launching EVs only in 2025. 

Garg stated that Hyundai’s electric vehicles will be either built on the E-GMP (dedicated global modular platform) or on modified platforms on which it builds gasoline cars. 

He said that the cars constructed on this electric platform can travel up to 800 km, while others can run 350 to 400 km on one charge.

Although the Kona EV was launched in India by the company in 2019, sales of the product were slow due to high prices and poor charging infrastructure. 

Garg claimed Kona taught him the value of affordable EVs and the necessity to offer different charging methods.

Hyundai has been in discussions with suppliers about local production of components for its EVs. This will make them more affordable. Garg stated that Hyundai will provide home charging stations and is looking into strategic alliances for public charging. 

Kona was about testing India’s waters. “The lessons learned from it gave us confidence to give this push,” he stated.