Motor Trend Detroit Editor Todd Lassa talks about the new 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Turbo
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00:00 Okay, we're here with Scott Marguson, the Director of Product Planning for Hyundai Motor
00:10 America.
00:11 Now, this is the new Hyundai Sonata.
00:13 We've seen it on the streets already with the base four-cylinder engine.
00:17 Cars in this category typically usually have a four-cylinder and a V6 option.
00:22 Not this car.
00:23 Why not?
00:24 What we decided to do was to replace the V6 with a new 2-liter turbocharged engine.
00:30 So it's a gasoline direct injection engine.
00:32 It has 274 horsepower, but yet has 34 miles per gallon on the highway.
00:38 So more power than a V6, but with as much fuel economy as a typical base four-cylinder
00:45 engine.
00:46 Okay, and so you mentioned 274 horsepower.
00:48 How does that compare in the class?
00:50 It actually is better than all the competitive V6s, but yet because it's an efficient four-cylinder
00:56 turbo, it gets 34 miles per gallon on the highway, which is as good as any four-cylinder
01:02 competitor.
01:04 So you get V6 power with four-cylinder fuel economy.
01:08 And what's the city mileage number on that?
01:10 City mileage is 22, so that matches our base 2.4-liter Sonata.
01:16 So you get 2235 in the base car with 200 horsepower.
01:20 In the 2.0T, you move all the way up to 274 horsepower.
01:24 Same 22 city and just a slight decrease to 34 highway.
01:28 Well, this certainly is a sign of things to come.
01:31 Let's take a look at another one of your cars that predicts the future, the new Hyundai
01:36 Sonata Hybrid.
01:38 Tell me what kind of power train this has.
01:41 This is a full parallel hybrid system.
01:43 So it has a 2.4-liter gasoline engine and then a 30-kilowatt electric motor.
01:50 Those two together produce about 209 horsepower.
01:55 The electric motor is powered by lithium polymer batteries.
01:59 This technology leapfrogs the current in-market nickel metal hydride batteries and is also
02:05 superior to the lithium ion batteries that are going to be coming out in the future as
02:09 well.
02:10 With lithium polymer batteries, you get a much denser energy capacity.
02:16 They're more reliable.
02:17 They're easier to package.
02:20 They also run cooler, have a lot of other advantages.
02:23 So a lot of state-of-the-art equipment in this new Sonata Hybrid.
02:28 How fast can you go on pure electric with this car?
02:31 Sonata Hybrid is unique in that it actually can go up to 62 miles per hour in pure electric
02:36 mode.
02:37 That's pretty impressive.
02:38 And what are the EPA numbers on it?
02:40 The EPA numbers are 37 in the city and 39 in the highway.
02:45 That highway number is what's really unique.
02:47 Most hybrids are appealing because of their great fuel economy, but one of the reasons
02:54 they're appealing is if you drive a lot of miles.
02:56 But yet, where hybrids are typically good is in the city, but if you really drive a
03:02 lot of miles, typically that's going to be a lot of highway miles.
03:05 So with the Sonata Hybrid, we wanted to balance the city and highway fuel economy numbers.
03:11 So we have this very high class-leading 39 MPG highway figure, as well as a strong 37
03:18 mile per gallon in the city.
03:20 Okay, Scott, we've seen the new Hyundai Sonata Turbo and the new Hyundai Sonata Hybrid.
03:25 Are you talking price on either of these yet?
03:27 On the Hybrid, that vehicle is not going to go into the market until right at the end
03:31 of the year.
03:32 So we'll announce pricing at that time.
03:35 On the Sonata Turbo, the Sonata 2.0T, we have announced that it will start under $25,000.
03:43 A typical Hyundai value.
03:44 A typical Hyundai value, absolutely.
03:46 Scott, thank you very much.
03:47 Thanks, Todd.
03:48 Thanks, Todd.
03:50 Thanks, Todd.
03:51 (upbeat music)
03:54 (whooshing)