Hyundai CRETA Electrified

The SUV that won hearts across India and Nepal is now switching gears to drive into an electric future. Hyundai is electrifying its best-selling CRETA with an all-new electric avatar, set to launch on January 17 at the 2025 Bharat Mobility Expo. With the tagline "Electric is now CRETA", this evolution combines cutting-edge EV tech with the proven reliability of the CRETA brand in the Indian sub-continent.

Hyundai has modified its current best-selling SUV to equip it with a battery pack and a motor to bring it into the market as an electric SUV. If you’ve watched the teaser and think that the CRETA EV looks a lot like the petrol or diesel CRETA that’s because they both use the same platform. The CRETA EV isn’t going to be a born electric EV unlike the Mahindra BE 6 or the XEV 9e. This might be a wise move on Hyundai’s part in capitalizing the current popularity for the CRETA taking a page out of Tata’s book when they did the same with the Nexon, the Tigor and the Tiago EVs. While still sharing a lot of stuff with its petrol or diesel variant the CRETA EV does have a few EV specific features to set it apart.

The front grille is now closed off and houses the charging port and active aero flaps (AAF) which automatically open up when there’s a need for cooling the internals. The charging port has a surround light and a charge level indicator. No more jumping into the driver’s seat to check whether the car is charging or not and what the SoC is. Both the rear and the front bumper now sport the pixelated graphics design in line with Hyundai’s global Pixel design language for EVs. The tyres are R17’s and are aero optimized with low rolling resistance to increase the electric range. The overall dimensions will be similar to that of the petrol or diesel CRETA with only the weight being on the higher side thanks to the battery pack.

The traditional gear lever gives way for a rotary drive selector for choosing between different drive modes (Eco/Normal/Sport) whereas the gear selector now sits behind the steering wheel on the right.

The dual 10.2-inch screens carried over from the gasoline CRETA now show more electric specific information such as remaining battery percentage, range and efficiency.

Despite not being a pure EV the CRETA EV will have V2L functionality. Unlike most other EVs where the charging port is the only one functioning bidirectionally, the CRETA EV will have a socket inside the cabin under the rear seat as well. Hosting a cookout out in the open during a camping trip using the external CCS2 charging port and need to power your laptop to take a quick work call inside the car? Now you can do both with the CRETA EV. In the teaser we can also see the driver unlocking the car with just the tap of their mobile phone on the driver side door handle, taking the concept of ‘keyless entry’ one step further.

There will also be one pedal driving mode adding to driving comfort and increased range along with wireless charging, dual-zone climate control, seamless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integration, and a panoramic sunroof just like the gasoline powered CRETA. The CRETA EV is anticipated to include Level 2 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) with features like adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist.

Battery Choices and Range

Hyundai offers the CRETA EV with two battery configurations:

• 42 kWh Battery Pack: Delivers a range of around 390 km (ARAI-certified), perfect for city/highway mixed driving.
• 51 kWh Battery Pack: Extends the range to 473 km (ARAI-certified), ideal for longer highway drives.
• Battery chemistry: NMC

Real world range is expected to be 270-330km across variants depending on driving conditions.

Fast and Flexible Charging

• Rapid DC Charging: Achieves a 10% to 80% charge in a swift 58 minutes
• 11 kW AC Wall Box Charger: Ensures a full charge from 10% to 100% in about 4 hours

Power and Acceleration

• 0-100kmph in 7.9s (for the 51-kWh battery variant)

Pricing and Variants

Pricing is expected to start at 22 lakhs INR placing the CRETA EV a segment below the Kona EV. The CRETA EV will be offered in four trims – Executive, Smart, Premium, and Excellence and a colour palette with 10 distinctive shades including dual-tone and matte finishes.

But wait, there’s more…

Charging network

Both Hyundai India and Hyundai Nepal are rolling their sleeves up to cater to the future CRETA EV buyers. They are expanding their existing charging network across both the countries. Hyundai India will set up 600 charging stations along major cities and highways in the next seven years while Hyundai Nepal has plans to extend the network to 25 locations with DC charging capabilities. These will be 100kW DC charging stations allowing two EVs to charge at 50kW simultaneously. Hyundai Nepal is also planning to introduce two V2V vans for roadside assistance which will be able to drive to your location and charge your EV when you are out of juice. All this is being done in preparation for the mid-February launch of the CRETA EV in Nepal.