Hyundai said Monday that, in the event of breakdown of the Sonata Hybrid’s lithium polymer battery, the company will replace the battery free of charge and pay for its recycling costs. Hyundai, which co-developed the lithium polymer battery with LG Chem, says the Sonata Hybrid’s drivetrain can hold up under more than 300,000 miles of driving with “minimal degradation.”
Hyundai continues to pitch its cars’ reliability and fuel efficiency as a way to boost U.S. sales. For the model year 2010, the most recent year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tracked fleetwide fuel efficiency, Hyundai achieved a fleetwide fuel-economy level of 25.9 miles per gallon, best among the 14 largest automakers. Hyundai boosted U.S. sales by 20 percent last year to a record 645,691 vehicles, with the Sonata as its best-selling line. The company doesn’t break out sales numbers specifically for the Sonata Hybrid, which is rated by the EPA to get 37 miles per gallon combined.
Hyundai has been offering a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty on all of its vehicles since 1999.
Lifetime Battery Replacement Guarantee covers 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Batteries Far Beyond Hyundai’s Industry Leading 10-Year, 100,000-mile Warranty
COSTA MESA, Calif., Jan. 9, 2012 – Hyundai today added to its Sonata Hybrid coverage a Lifetime Battery Replacement Guarantee to expand the benefits of Hyundai Assurance, the industry’s most comprehensive warranty program. The coverage applies to all 2012 model year Sonata Hybrid models over the life expectancy of the vehicle and thousands of miles beyond the average duration of new-car ownership. The first-of-its-kind protection ensures that if the Sonata Hybrid lithium polymer battery technology failes, Hyundai will replace the battery and cover recycling costs for the old powerplant free of charge to the owner.
Hyundai tested Sonata Hybrid and its Blue Drive hybrid drivetrain for more than 300,000 miles with minimal degradation of its output or duration of operation, providing Sonata Hybrid owners with confidence that their investment will continue to pay dividends well into the future.
“The Hyundai brand was built on outstanding quality backed by the industry’s best protection program which we call Hyundai Assurance,” said Michael O’Brien, vice president, Corporate and Product Planning. “Expanding Hyundai Assurance to include Lifetime Battery Replacement Guarantee was another opportunity for us to demonstrate our confidence in the durability of our product, and pass that peace-of-mind on to our owners.”
The heart of Hyundai’s breakthrough Hybrid Blue Drive technology is its remarkable lithium polymer batter pack. Hyundai is the first automaker in the world to incorporate this remarkably efficient battery technology into production vehicles. Automotive duty cycles, with temperature ranges from -40 to 120+ degrees Fahrenheit, and 10-year-and-beyond longevity requirements render the lithium ion batteries used in consumer devices unsuitable. Lithium polymer is the next generation of lithium ion technology and is ideally suited to automotive applications thanks to a robust and reliable chemistry.
The lithium polymers cells, developed with our partner LG Chem, use a manganese spinel chemistry that provides an excellent balance between power delivery, energy density and thermal stability. Thermal stability is critical to ensuring durability eliminating the need to replace the battery pack during the normal lifespan of the vehicle. The electrodes in older lithium ion chemistries expand and contract with the heating and cooling that occurs during charging and discharging. This thermal expansion causes cracks in the electrodes which ultimately reduces the cell’s ability to hold a charge. Manganese spinel lithium polymer cells have much lower expansion rates and are thus able to go through tens of thousands of charge cycles even without having to use a heavier, liquid cooling system.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program, which includes the 5-year/60,000-mile fully transferable new vehicle warranty, Hyundai’s 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, and five years of complimentary Roadside Assistance.
For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com
