Jakarta. South Korean automotive powerhouse Hyundai is gearing up to launch a new electric vehicle (EV) model, which will be manufactured at its Indonesian plant and is slated for release next year, an executive said in a recent interview.

Currently, Hyundai is a dominant EV supplier in Indonesia, boasting the popular Ioniq 5 model produced at its Karawang plant in West Java. Priced from Rp 750 million ($49,000), the Ioniq 5 stands above the average cost of a new car sold in the nation.

The Ioniq 6, another EV model, begins at Rp 1.19 billion.

"Hopefully Hyundai is able to release a new electric vehicle model with a price below Rp 600 million," Hyundai Motor ASEAN advisor Lee Kang Hyun said in an exclusive interview program Investor Daily Roundtable in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Anticipated as an addition to Hyundai's lineup, this upcoming model holds potential to broaden the company's customer base and augment the number of emission-free vehicles in Indonesia, he said.

"A price of around Rp 800 million is still too expensive for an electric vehicle, while our Ioniq 6 is even more expensive at Rp 1.2 billion. So we need to offer a new, more affordable model to our customers," Lee said.

It is expected that this new model will incorporate batteries locally produced in Indonesia.

Hyundai Motor Group, working through its subsidiary Hyundai Energy Indonesia, is developing a battery pack factory in the country to secure supplies for the ASEAN EV market. Mass production of EV batteries is projected to commence in the second half of the forthcoming year.

Hyundai has also embarked on a collaboration with LG Energy Solution, with joint investments set to establish a lithium battery cell factory in Karawang. This facility is poised to accommodate the production of at least 150,000 electric vehicles, further supporting the nation's EV industry.

In a move to bolster the EV ecosystem in Indonesia, Hyundai has built over 200 charging stations across the country.

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