• Hyundai (just about) confirms it will produce the N Vision 74 concept it first unveiled in Korea in 2022.
We reported yesterday on Hyundai’s plan to increase its range of hybrid models, a reflection of an industry-wide trend in recent months.
Hyundai’s announcement was accompanied by other news unveiled at the company's Investor Day. Notably, the company shared a broad hint that it will go ahead with a production version of the N Vision 74 concept, first unveiled in 2022 in Korea and then at the Los Angeles Auto Show that November.
Shortly after the concept's presentation, rumours of a plan for a production version began to circulate; those were officially denied. Eventually the speculation arose again, and again came denials from Hyundai.
This week, one particular slide in Hyundai’s presentation to investors seemed to confirm that the N Vision 74 concept will indeed become a production reality, as part of the company's plans to launch 21 new models by 2030.
The slide identified the sports car as one of the brand's future “high-performance electric vehicles”.
For now there is no official confirmation from Hyundai, and no details on the powertrain, or of the future production car’s performance capabilities. Most importantly, we don't even yet know whether Hyundai would retain the hydrogen configuration of the concept. The company could adopt an all-electric approach, using, for example, the powertrain of the Ioniq 5 N as a starting point.
There’s also a good chance the production run of the model would be limited, which has been part of the speculation all along. If that’s so, a hydrogen powertrain would be feasible. There have been rumours of a production version with 775 or 800 hp, recall. On the other hand, a larger production run would make a hydrogen configuration much less likely, given the lack of infrastructure for refilling with hydrogen.
As for when the car might launch, it’s as vague as can be: sometime before 2030. The Korean Car Blog reports that research and development work is already underway at Hyundai's development centre in South Korea, and it believes production will start in 2026.
Original content from auto123.
