THE KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY, GLOBAL EDITION

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 countries 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.

Car sales reached 54,964 units last year, including 27.6% from overseas.

The Staria EV will be equipped with a fourth-generation NCM battery composed of lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. The 84-kilowatt (kW) battery has 10.4% higher capacity than that of the ST1, Hyundai’s first fully electric work van launched in April.

Staria EV’s battery cell can go 324 kilometers on a single charge, taking 20 minutes to take the battery charging rate from 10% to 80%.

Hyundai expects that there will be an increasing demand for switching to electric vans in Europe once the European Union implements 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 two new models at the end of 2025 to the current lineup: the 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.