Hyundai to launch EV model for Staria minivan in 2026
South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. is slated to launch an electric vehicle model of its Staria van in 2026 to respond to the intensifying environmental regulations in Europe, the world’s second-largest EV market by sales.
Hyundai Motor started the expansion of its high-voltage battery installation line at its Ulsan Plant in Korea to begin production of an EV model of the multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) in early 2026, according to auto industry sources on Thursday.
The carmaker will start mass production of Staria EV in Europe during the first half of 2026 and sell the vehicles not only in the European market but also in Asia-Pacific, such as Australia and Thailand. The company targets 15,000 to 20,000 units of the EV’s global sales per year.
Released in 2021, Staria is a full-change model of Hyundai’s light commercial vehicle Starex which was first introduced in 1997. With a maximum of 15 seats, the MPV is often used for transportation services for children and first aid in Korea.
The car sales reached 54,964 units of sales last year, including 27.6% from overseas.
Staria EV will be equipped with a fourth-generation NCM battery, composed of lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. The 84-kilowatt (kW) battery has a 10.4% higher capacity than that of ST1, Hyundai’s first fully electric work van launched in April.
Staria EV’s battery cell has a range of 324 kilometers on a single charge, taking 20 minutes to raise the battery charging rate from 10% to 80%.
Hyundai expects that there will be an increasing demand to change vans into EVs in Europe once the European Union implements the Euro 7, which regulates road transport emissions, for cars and vans in July 2025.
Before the release of the EV, Hyundai Motor is set to add new models at the end of 2025 to the current lineup, Staria Hybrid and the MPV with gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) engines.
Write to Jin-Won Kim at jin1@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.
