(January 5, 2010) Hyundai's first production hybrid system for North America will debut late in 2010 on the recently announced Sonata but the company is showing its first plug-in hybrid as a concept at the North American International Auto Show. The Blue-Will concept first appeared at the 2009 Seoul Motor Show and is claimed to be able to provide up to 40 miles of all electric driving per charge and 50-55 mpg in conventional hybrid driving.

While Hyundai has not given a production time frame for a car based on the concept, the automaker indicates that it may preview a future new dedicated hybrid vehicle to compete with the Toyota Prius.

The Blue-Will uses the same basic hybrid architecture that Hyundai showed as Blue-Drive at 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. While the Korean market Elantra LPI Hybrid and the upcoming Sonata use a conventional automatic transmission, the concept uses a continuously variable transmission. The biggest difference however is the electric motor/generator.

The Korean Elantra uses a 15 kW motor while the Sonata will have a 30 kW motor. The concept is equipped with a 100 kW (134 hp) motor. This more powerful motor will allow the car to operate in fully electric mode through most of its operating range. Energy for the motor is stored in a lithium polymer battery of the same type used in the Sonata.

The electric drive is backed up by a 1.6-liter four cylinder gasoline engine with direct injection. The engine is rated at 152 hp and the powertrain can operate in electric only, gas only or hybrid drive modes in a parallel configuration. The Hyundai architecture does not use the traction motor for the auto start-stop capability. Instead the engine is equipped with a belt driven integrated starter generator.

Hyundai has not disclosed the size of the battery pack but claims a full charge off the grid will provide a 40 mile electric range. The range is enhanced by the addition of a thermal generator in the exhaust stream. The generator converts the heat from the exhaust gases to electrical energy. A glass roof with integrated solar photovoltaic cells also helps to trickle charge the battery. The estimated equivalent fuel efficiency in PHEV mode is 106 mpg. Because of the more powerful electric motor, this car could potentially get closer to 100 mpg than most plug-in conversions of Priuses.

The vehicle itself is a four seat, five door hatchback with the same 106.3 inch wheelbase as the current Elantra Touring but 7 inch shorter overall length.