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Hyundai's first mass-market EV for China has debuted with hopes it'll reverse the brand's struggles in the world's largest car market – and spy photos in Australia suggest it could eventually be sold here.
Electric Cars
Hyundai's first dedicated electric vehicle for China has debuted as the first step in reinvigorating the brand in the world's largest car market.
The 2026 Hyundai Elexio has been under development with its Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) joint-venture partner for five years and marks the start of Hyundai's "electrification transformation" strategy in China.
Hyundai only sells the Ioniq 5 N electric car in China – imported from South Korea with a similar $AU100,000 price tag to Australia – in a market where electric and hybrid models account for around half of all car sales.
It also offers its petrol-engined Tucson, Santa Fe and Sonata models in China, along with the market-specific, lower-cost Mufasa SUV and Custo minivan.
Hyundai hopes the Elexio and future EVs will turn its fortunes around in China, with the brand recording fewer than 200,000 sales in 2024.
China was Hyundai's lowest-selling region last year, far down from 1.2 million sales in North America, 700,000 in Korea, 600,000 each in Europe and India, and 215,000 in the Asia Pacific.
Hyundai recorded almost 900,000 deliveries in China a decade ago, with its sales down 80 per cent in 2024 compared to 2014.
While it is based on the same E-GMP electric-car architecture as Hyundai's global Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Ioniq 9 models, the Elexio is not currently planned for other markets, including Australia.
A Hyundai Australia spokesperson told Drive there are "no current plans for Australia".
However, in a media release, Hyundai confirmed it has been designed to meet strict ANCAP and Euro NCAP crash-test standards, suggesting it could become a global model after its Chinese launch.
A camouflaged, left-hand drive example of the Hyundai Elexio – codenamed 'OE' – was spied testing on public roads in Melbourne and Sydney in recent weeks, adding weight to its potential for a global launch, including in Australia.
The Elexio name, as it will wear in China, is said to be a "deformation" of the English word electric.
It is unclear if the Elexio is based on the rear-wheel-drive, 800-volt charging version of E-GMP – supporting circa-250kW fast charging – or the lower-cost front-wheel-drive, 400-volt edition introduced in the EV3 and EV4 from sister brand Kia.
The design of the Elexio is inspired by the Ioniq models, along with the Inster and Kona Electric, with 'Parametric Pixel' lighting elements in its full-width front and rear light bars.
Its C-pillar design with split windows is similar to the new-generation Hyundai Nexo hydrogen SUV.
Images of the Elexio's interior have not been shown, but Hyundai has confirmed some details – including the absence of traditional physical controls, months after the brand committed to retaining them.
An automotive-specific Qualcomm Snapdragon chip powers its "modern, intelligent" infotainment interface, similar to other Chinese-market electric vehicles.
Its infotainment system will support "large language model solutions", watching TikTok videos, playing games, and streaming music and videos.
A 'level two plus' semi-autonomous driving system supplied by Chinese startup Haomo will be fitted to the Elexio, but some features will be unavailable at launch.
Hyundai said software updates from later this year will enable automatic assisted driving and memory parking functions.
Another software update in 2026 will allow the Elexio to use its semi-autonomous driving system in urban environments, it claims.
Technical specifications have not been announced, but it is said to have a driving range of "more than" 700 kilometres on the Chinese CLTC lab-test standard.
A 30 to 80 per cent charge is claimed to take approximately 27 minutes.
The brand said it has "reserved sufficient safety space" for the Elexio's battery by making the vehicle larger, and using an eight horizontal and seven vertical grid structure in its chassis.
"[The Elexio] meets the collision standards of the Chinese market and has passed Australia's strict collision safety tests, providing users with all-round safety protection," Hyundai said in its Chinese media release, translated to English.
More details on the 2026 Hyundai Elexio, including interior images and technical specifications, will be confirmed at a later date.
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Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
