An exclusive deal being offered by energy provider Origin for owners of Hyundai’s two electric vehicles in Australia – the Ioniq and the Kona Electric – will encourage drivers to take advantage of savings from a new solar system for their home.
Announced on Friday, Kona Electric and Ioniq owners are able to get a $750 discount off Origin solar systems 5kW or larger, or for any size system when bundled with an LG Chem RESU battery, or $500 for systems smaller than 5kW.
Kona Electric and Ioniq owners who already have an existing solar system will have a choice of either $500 off a battery or access to a high feed-in tariff plan (these vary from state to state but top out at 20-23c/kWh).
“We are delighted to partner with leading energy provider Origin, to complement the environmental credentials of our eco-vehicle range, with solar offers that could provide further savings on customers’ home and car energy costs,” Hyundai Australia CEO JW Lee said in a media release.
Executive general manager for Origin Retail Jon Briskin said Origin “is committed to transitioning to a smarter energy future.”
The Hyundai Ioniq, which was the first of the new breed of electric vehicles in Australia to be offered at a starting price, before on-road costs, of less than $A50,000, comes in a choice of drivetrains – battery electric, plug-in hybrid or plain hybrid.
The battery electric version proved the most popular amongst customers after its launch in late 2018, and kitted with a 28kWh battery for 230km real world range, it can be charged off a 7kW AC “wall charger” at home from 0-100% in around 4 hours.
The Kona Electric, which is only available in Australia in its long range version with a 64kWh battery and around 400km real world range (range of course can differ depending on your driving style and environment, just like an ICE vehicle), would be able to recharge of the same system from 0-100% in around 9 hours, noting that most people would never need to charge from zero percent.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.