Hyundai launches national EV subscription service

Hyundai Motor America is scaling its electric vehicle subscription service nationally following a 2021 pilot program. The EVOLVE+ program allows consumers to subscribe to Hyundai’s Kona EV for $699 per month or the IONIQ 5 EV for $899 per month, with a $300 initiation fee, according to a company release. Payments include insurance, maintenance, registration and roadside assistance. Subscriptions are offered for a minimum of 28 days and allow up to 1,000 miles per month. “We as a company are committed to electrification, and we saw an opportunity for people … to try [an EV] and see if it fits their lifestyle and their daily routine,” Yuval Steiman, director of corporate planning at Hyundai, told Auto Finance News . Some subscribers are looking for short-term alternatives to vehicle ownership for use cases such as spending parts of the year outside of where they permanently reside or college students home for a break, he said. [caption id="attachment_57334313" align="alignright" width="2560"]<img class="wp-image-57334313 size-full" src="https://www.autofinancenews.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/394889529-scaled.jpg" alt="A logo on Hyundai Motor Co. IONIQ 5 electric vehicle (EV) at the India Auto Expo 2023 in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. The event will be open to public on Jan. 13, and runs through Jan. 18. Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg" width="2560" height="1710" /> Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg [/caption] The EVOLVE+ program is available at eight dealerships in six states and Hyundai plans to expand into more states by year-end. The company did not disclose which states the program is currently in. The OEM began testing monthly EV subscriptions in late 2021 through a pilot with Burns Hyundai in Marlton, N.J. The pilot lasted more than a year, allowing Hyundai to tweak it as needed, Steiman said. 100% digital Customers complete the process via the EVOLVE+ app by selecting the vehicle they want to sign up for and setting their payment terms, according to Hyundai. Once approved — subscribers must be 25 years of age or older, have at least three years of recent driving history, a clean record, a valid U.S. driver’s license and a credit score of 650 or higher — customers pick up the car at a participating dealership. Approvals take 15 to 30 seconds to process, Daniel Kipper, director of commercial mobility services at Hyundai Capital America , told AFN . Subscribers may cancel or renew their subscriptions at any time. About 70% of subscribers opt to renew, Kipper said. Consumers who renew keep their current vehicle, he added, noting the average subscription term was 82 days as of earlier this month. “These subscribers are going into their third month, and that goes back to why we think this is going to be successful,” he said. “There is a demand and a need to fill that gap, and customers are finding this flexible solution to meet their needs.” Dealers are key Customers pay for the monthly subscription via credit cards using the EVOLVE+ app, which remits payments to the dealer at the end of the month, Kipper said. “We’re working within our organization and with our dealer partners to get them online as quickly as we can,” Steiman said. Dealers “are the experts in their local markets, they can manage [the program] at the ground level and they understand what their customers want and the demand. We’re working with them to get [subscriptions] in as many places as we can.” Dealers provide vehicles for the subscription program, Kipper said. “This is a dealer-centric model, and it’s the dealers utilizing their inventory,” he said. “As a captive lender, we provide inventory financing to the dealers so they can finance their vehicles to use in operations. We provide that as necessary so that dealers can grow their inventory pool in support of this program.” Electric vehicles have stimulated car subscription services , prompting the launch of several EV subscription-based startups such as Autonomy and Spring Free EV . Auto Finance Summit East, Auto Finance News’ new spring event, is set for May 10-12 at the JW Marriott Nashville featuring a fireside chat with Peter Muriungi, CEO of Chase Auto. Visit autofinance.live.

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