Paris will be awash with green concepts, Hyundai showing two alongside its new i20 supermini. The green cars on the stand include a hybrid version of its Santa Fe SUV and the i-blue i20 concept. The i-blue concept is based on the new production-ready i20 that also debuts at the show. The i20 is Hyundai's new supermini, slotting into the range between the
i10 city car and Hyundai's Ford Focus-sized contender, the
i30.
The new supermini follows the design themes of its siblings, that is to say it's a neat if rather undramatically styled car. Buyers are more likely to be interested in the plentiful standard equipment, excellent warranty and pricing the i20 will undoubtedly offer instead. The i-blue i20 that it will share stand space
in Paris demonstrates how a greener model might be derived from it. A lower ride height, low rolling resistance tyres, a flatter underfloor and revised aerodynamics all help the i-blue concept return a combined consumption figure of 68mpg and CO
2 emissions of just 99g/km.
Powered by the latest 1.4-litre CRDi turbodiesel, the i-blue concept also gains a sixth ratio on its manual gearbox to enable it to return those impressive figures. Hyundai's other green concept at Paris is a petrol-electric Santa Fe concept. Using a 2.4-litre petrol engine mated to a lithium-ion battery powered 30kW motor the result is CO
2 emissions of 148g/km and a combined consumption figure of 44mpg. That's impressive when compared to the V6 petrol Santa Fe, not quite so when compared to the
turbodiesel Santa Fe. Certain to make production, the hybrid Santa Fe is likely to be sold only in the USA, where consumers see hybrids as a better alternative to diesels.
Kyle Fortune - 4 Sep 2008