Hyundai’s Elec City bus runs 180 miles on a single charge

Last week, Hyundai, the South Korean motor company, unveiled a fully electric bus called Elec City. Powered by a 256kWh battery, it can run 290 kilometers, or approximately 180 miles, on a single charge—which only takes 67 minutes to get juiced up, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Debuting at the Truck & Bus Mega Fair in Goyang, Elec City will be Hyundai’s first mass-produced electric bus and will be released in 2018. Although Elec City has been in development for over eight years and has seen two pilot releases, a lack of chargers was the main roadblock for increasing demand for the emission-free vehicles.

"There still remain things to be improved in terms of the charging infrastructure for pure electric vehicles," said Tak Yeong-duck, senior vice president of Hyundai's Commercial Vehicle R&D Dvision. "But we have decided to launch the Elec City next year as the government plans to increase the number of charging stations in the coming years."

Automakers around the world have been prioritizing the development of electric and other emission-free vehicles—including self-driving ones—in recent years. Companies include China-based BYD Auto, French Easy Mile, and, of course Tesla.

Via: Designboom, The Verge, Yonhap News Agency