Due to icy sub-zero conditions in South Korea, even at noon, our test drives of the cars were limited to short track drives, but even so the many harmonious qualities of the latest Sonata were apparent.
The new Sonata YF has set a sales record in the domestic market of South Korea with more than 100 000 units sold since September last year. Hyundai has been ranked as the world’s fifth largest motor manufacturer since 2007 and Hyundai Automotive South Africa was selected as the global distributor of the year in 2005.
But probably the most impressive about South Korea was the way all economic activity continued despite the coldest winter in a decade with mid-day temperatures well below freezing. South Korea is now the 13th largest economy in the world.

ALLEGRO
As in the 2011 Sonata Hybrid, Direct Hybrid is now a full parallel hybrid system. The Sonata Hybrid can be driven in zero-emission, fully electric drive mode at a speed of up to speeds up to 99 km/h or in blended gas-electric mode at any speed.
When the car comes to a stop and the electrical load is low, the engine is shut down to completely eliminate idle fuel consumption and emissions.

One of the great benefits of the hybrid electric powertrain is that it has the ability to recover kinetic energy lost during braking and store it for accelerating and cruising.
When the driver applies the brake pedal, the engine is decoupled from the traction motor so that it provides no drag on the vehicle.

ANDANTE
At the heart of Hyundai’s breakthrough Direct Hybrid Blue Drive technology is its special lithium polymer battery pack.
Hyundai is the first car maker to incorporate this remarkably efficient battery technology into production vehicles. Weight and the longevity of batteries have been raised repeatedly as almost insurmountable obstacles in the development of hybrid cars, but the Korean manufacturer said in its press statement it expects a battery life of 10 years or longer.
The technology is ideally suited to application in cars thanks to robust and reliable chemistry.

The power and energy density of the new battery type allowed Hyundai engineers to create a lighter and more compact battery pack which has a direct bearing on weight and space. The Sonata Hybrid’s 1.4 kilowatt-hour battery pack weighs in at just over 43 kg.

That improved efficiency means that more of the recovered kinetic energy and charging energy from the engine will be available to propel the car, allowing the Sonata to provide electric driving boost more often and for longer periods of time.
Lithium polymer also has less of the self-discharge characteristic inherent in most rechargeable batteries. The Sonata's battery will hold its charge 25 percent longer than hybrids with nickel metal hydride batteries. As a result, the battery is more likely to have usable energy in it when the car is started even if it has been sitting for several days.
This allows more electric starts and drive-aways, cutting fuel consumption and emissions.

MODERATO
Beyond the innovative powertrain, Hyundai's engineering team has looked at vehicle efficiency including aerodynamics.
The Sonata hybrid shares the design language of the other Sonata models of its year and boasts an attractive exterior.
The front and rear have been re-shaped with lower drag wheels to allow air to flow around the body with less resistance. The result is that the published drag coefficient for the Sonata HEV is an exceptionally low 0.25.

VIVACE
The mid-sized transmission in the Sonata is used in conjunction with a 30 kW motor to provide full hybrid capability including electric drive at speeds of up to 83,6 km/h.
The car has a six speed automatic transmission and the Direct Hybrid Blue Drive system is among the first full hybrid systems on the market to use a "conventional" step-ratio automatic transmission.

Like the other Sonatas of 2011, the hybrid uses an EPAS system that provides boost instantly when needed during steering.
The EPAS is independent of the engine so it provides assistance when the engine is not running - during idle stopping or electric driving.

The Sonata hybrid also features an electrically driven air-conditioning compressor so that climate control can be maintained during engine-off driving. Like power steering, the electrically driven air-conditioning compressor allows for more precise on-demand control, reducing the overall load on the powertrain, cutting fuel consumption.

CONCLUSION
The Sonata promises to punch far above its weight in the price category. With the infrastructure starting to fall into place visibly for HEVs in Asia and Europe, we can watch and hope this kind of sophisticated green technology makes its way to our shores in time.

The cost of a hybrid electrical vehicle is higher than a conventional car, but on the other hand the fuel is more predictable - electricity companies willing.


The car has a six speed automatic transmission and the display of the Direct Hybrid Blue Drive system can be seen in the middle.

ARTICLE: ANICA KRÜGER