The Koreans were always playing catch-up to the Japanese and American car makers, but here’s a sign of the times to come: Korea’s largest car maker, Hyundai Motor Company, plans to sell its first LPG-electric hybrid vehicle in July 2009.

To be sold initially in the Korean domestic market under the Avante badge, the Elantra LPI Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is the world’s first hybrid vehicle to be powered by liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and the first to adopt advanced Lithium Polymer (Li-Poly) batteries. We’d love to know what the car’s running costs will be, especially on a city cycle!


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