Hyundai’s world first LPG Hybrid
8 Jul, 2008
21 Comments 
Typically pioneering innovations in motoring come from the big name luxury manufacturers; however Hyundai seems keen to make a name for itself as a leader in emerging technologies having today announced the world’s first LPG hybrid production car.
The Elantra LPI Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) will have the lowest operating costs of any hybrid vehicle on the market, with Hyundai determining the cost premium for the new car would be recouped in just two years through fuel savings.
Powered by a 1.6-litre Liquefied Petroleum Injected (LPI) Gamma engine coupled with a 15kW electric motor, the Elantra LPI HEV is classed as a mild-type hybrid vehicle and qualifies as a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle - emitting just 103g/km of CO2 and 90 percent fewer pollutants.
“The Elantra LPI HEV demonstrates Hyundai’s innovative approach: We have leveraged Hyundai’s world leadership in LPG-fuelled vehicles to develop a hybrid that will be very economical to operate,” said Dr. Hyun-Soon Lee, president of the Research and Development Division.
More precisely, the Elantra LPI HEV will be 40 percent cheaper to operate than other hybrid models in the marketplace and 50 percent less than a conventional Elantra model powered by a petrol only engine.
Part of the cost premium naturally includes the lithium polymer rechargeable batteries - another technological first for hybrid production cars.
The Li-poly batteries have significant advantages over lithium-ion batteries including higher energy density, lower manufacturing costs and they can also take more charge-discharge cycles before storage capacity begins to degrade.
Initial sales of the Elantra LPI HEV will begin July 2009 for the Korean market only; however Hyundai is investigating other markets - specifically China and Australia due to widespread LPG distribution infrastructure.
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July 8th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Another Hyundai first but I think it should have come in the i30 model.
Cheers !
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July 8th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Probably not a car that will save the world, but a great achievement all the same.
Melbourne to Sydney for 40 bucks anyone?
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July 8th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Congratulations Hyundai. These guys will be the biggest car maker in the world by 2025 me reckons. Great innovations, great prices, great warrant, and quality and design is improving.
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July 8th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
15kw electric motor
It’s as if the sole point of this motor is just so the car can be called a hybrid… not too different from the solar panels on prius’s article.
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July 8th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I don’t think it’s going to take that long Ben.
Well deserved too…
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July 8th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Fantastic work ! This is exactly what I was hoping for. Australia has huge LPG reserves. LPG burns cleaner and costs about 1/3 of what petrol costs. It doesn\’t take a rocket scientist to put 2 and 2 together to come up with something like this, but I\’m just surprised how LPG is overlooked by most car companies..
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July 9th, 2008 at 2:14 am
Finally a company that gets it!!!
The whole idea of hybrids is to cut down on fuel bills firstly and cut down on Co2 secondly so why would anyone use petrol to try and achieve those goals??
Keep it up Hyundai you “Really” are changing the game forever!!
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July 9th, 2008 at 6:27 am
I have been harping on about this combo since the first hybrid came out.
Its brilliant, hope it comes to OZ and sells for less than $25k, they will sell millions of them.
ASAP Hyundai
Cheers
f-0
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July 9th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Good on Hyundai.
Me think a lot of people here drive Hyundais.
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July 9th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Well done Hyundai! It’s great to see a car company that actually designs cars that are great for the environment and the hip pocket!! When can I leave a deposit? Ford and Holden you need to wake up and start building cars that are economical to run!! Where is the E-Commodore you built with the CSRIO? Why is that car not in production now?
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July 9th, 2008 at 9:43 am
I think this is a great idea.
But it does beg the question, what is wrong with a 1.6l LPG only car, bugger the battery crap.
Hyundai obviously has the LPG compatible engine, so please just stick it into the I30, Cerato, Getz, etc. and get them onto the Aussie market NOW.
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July 9th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Yuppies prefer something with battery(hybrid) powertrain. You can convert any car to LPG,so LPG Hyundai would have to be just another LPG powered car.Now add electric motor- and there is no competition.It is great point of difference for Hyundai.
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July 9th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
This is absolutely fantastic!
Great work Hyundai! A company that is finally giving customers what they want.
I’ve always wanted an LPG car but the options are very limited if you want one from the factory. Also the Falcon LPG isn’t exactly record breaking for its fuel consumption even running LPG since it has a large engine.
This smaller engine combined with the battery pack should consume around 5l/100km of LPG which will definitely make it the cheapest car to run in Australia no questions asked.
Now all they have to do is put the drive train/hybrid system in an i30 and I’ll run out and buy one
Hopefully they will act smart and bring it over here in a hurry.
Cheers
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July 9th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
SumoDog Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
“Yuppies prefer something with battery(hybrid) powertrain. You can convert any car to LPG,so LPG Hyundai would have to be just another LPG powered car.Now add electric motor- and there is no competition.It is great point of difference for Hyundai. ”
No, that’s not what I was on about. As Yianni says, there is only one LPG vehicle is on the market at the moment. It’s a large car with a poxy gas setup which nobody buys.
A dedicated LPG I30 that returns say 6.0l/100 without crappy, ungreen batteries would be an instant favourite. It doesn’t have to be fast or flash. Just fill with airbags, add ESP and ABS and watch it fly out of the showrooms.
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July 9th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
best bit is it wont come with a heavily overprised sticker on it.
before we start guessing consumption figures, has anyone hear dof what it might be?
what does a petrol elantra consume?
if the LPG version runs for 50% of the cost, it must be using slightly more LPG than the Petrol version consumes, because LPG is less than half the price to start with.
ah-huh, elantra uses just shy of 8.0l/100k.
the LPG hybrid would presumably use 8.5L at a guess.
if it was 5.0L as some suggested, it would running for closer to 1/4 the cost of the petrol versions.
either way it makes for bloody cheap motoring.
and by the sounds of it, the electric side is just a gimmocky thingy
if only ford pulled their finger out and put a latest tech LPG injection system in their current E-Gas range
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July 9th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I just want to fit the NEW LPG/DIESEL system to my FORD RANGER 2.5.
Why not you ask? THE EPA HASN’T GOT OFF THEIR GOVERNMENT-BUTTS TO APPROVE THE SYSTEM! Where’s Kevin ‘07 when we need him?
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July 9th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
David,
i thought there was LPG/Diesel kits out there already
ill see if i can dig something up
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July 9th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Thanks Andrew–there’s 2 systems –one quoted at $4,300, the other around $2000 ! –and both produce same result, apparently. Installers contacted all complain of being delayed by EPA. Your research will be appreciated .
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July 9th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
David,
when i get a chance i will check a few things.
im sure ive heard and read of the Diesel LPG conversions in action.
it seems a bit suss that the $2,000 system delivers in exactlly the same way as the $4,300 system.
i know in the case of petrol conversions that the $2,000 setup will only buy you the old tech stuff, whereas the $4,300 system will get you the latest tech stuf that is much much better.
out of interest, were both systems quoted from the same distributer/fitter?
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July 9th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Hyundai/Kia never cease to surprise.
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July 10th, 2008 at 12:21 am
You know whats amazing i was just thinking of lpg hybrid or diesel hybrid yesterday. i mean if ur cheap or for those environmentalist buy a prius
and then if ur really cheap or a environmentalist FREAK then u can buy a lpg / diesel hybrid. lol JKZ JKZ
nah but seriously lpg/diesel hybrids are a great idea i mean first, lpg is less that half the price of petrol, which means u save even more while ur driving around at 10 km/h thatn u do with petrol,
and with diesel being more economical than a normal hybrid (PROVEN ON CARADVICE.com.au) then a diesel-hybrid would be even more economical and slower than a normal hybrid, (its like a hybrid-hybrid lol), and yet lpg causes less c02 than petrol and diesel causes less c02 than a petrol hybrid.
Now im not a big hybrid man myself, nor do i intend on buying a hybrid, im pretty much into sporty v6’s and v8’s but i just thinking of the lpg-hybrid & diesel-hybrid because 1 of my cars duel fuel. (For those who must know its a 2003 Holden VY Berlina).
but the only problem with lpg is that u get less km per tank than petrol. I get about 350-450 km (70 litre lpg tank) and between 500 - 650 km (65 litre petrol) i always fill up with premium 98 RON, i found out u can get upto 100 km extra a tank. depending on my driving style sometines
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