US startup Autonomy buys EVs worth $143 mn from Hyundai, Kia

Seoul, Aug 10

US electric vehicle subscription company Autonomy will buy 3,140 EVs from Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia to strengthen its fleet lineup.

Autonomy has placed an official order to receive 1,640 EVs from Hyundai and 1,500 EVs from Kia in a deal worth a combined $143 million, reports Yonhap news agency.

The order is part of Autonomy's $1.2 billion plan to buy 23,000 battery-powered vehicles from 17 different carmakers as it pushes to expand and diversify its subscription fleet beyond Tesla Motors, the company said in a statement.

"With every automaker going all-in on electric and so many exciting new products coming to market in the next 6 to 18 months, we have placed our fleet order and are excited to expand our subscription lineup," said Scott Painter, founder and CEO of Autonomy.

The 23,000-vehicle order represents 1.2 per cent of EVs forecast to be produced in the US through the end of 2023.

The Santa Monica, California-based company began its EV subscription business in January and currently has a fleet of 1,000 EVs, all from Tesla.

Of the latest order, Tesla clinched the largest $443 million order, or 8,300 EVs, from Autonomy, followed by General Motors Co. with 3,400 EVs, Volkswagen with 2,200 EVs and Ford Motor with 1,800 EVs.