Hyundai Blue Drive Hybrid Cars

The Los Angeles auto show was the site of an exciting announcement by Hyundai as it introduced its ‘Hybrid Blue Drive’ power train. While many new car buyers have considered the gas savings of a hybrid powered car, many have also had concerns about the batteries and their large size and weight.  Hyundai’s new Blue Drive technology may be about to change all that. It seems like a giant leap forward and this new hybrid car format should find its way into future models in the coming years.

The Hyundai Blue Drive is based on a system that includes proprietary fuel-cell technology and a lithium polymer battery.  A 2.4-liter gas engine is coupled with a 30kW electric motor. Hyundai says that this new hybrid powered system stores its electrical charge in a lithium polymer rechargeable battery that is much thinner and flatter than batteries that are currently in use.

This new battery, which is flatter and thinner than the normal small, round and chunky ones currently used, takes up less space in the vehicle, will have a longer life and should be safer when compared to nickel-metal hydride batteries, said John Krafcik, vice president of product development and strategic planning for Hyundai Motor America.  Lithium polymer batteries, like these, offer more than twice the energy density of nickel-metal hydride batteries.

Lithium polymer batteries also hold their charge 20 times longer and are said to have a self-discharge rate is less than a third of a nickel-metal hydride battery.  All in all, these new batteries should make it easier to change the battery shape and “footprint” to fit the nooks and crannies of the available space available within today’s smaller, more compact hybrid powered cars.

Hybrid car buyers should look for the next-generation Sonata to be the company’s first model to feature this new Blue Drive drive train. But there is little doubt that this technology is  expected to be offered on a number of additional models between 2010 and 2015.