Low-emission vehicles represent a steadily growing share of production at Hyundai’s Nošovice plant. One of these models, the KONA Electric, will be used for one year by employees of the Třinec City Hall for official purposes. With this, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech (HMMC) is launching a pilot project aimed at supporting clean mobility.
“The goal is to strengthen cooperation with surrounding municipalities and cities while raising awareness of electromobility in our region. Representatives from various local governments will have the opportunity to test the Hyundai KONA Electric free of charge for a period ranging from six months to one year,” explained Jana Opluštilová from HMMC’s External Relations Department.
Třinec will be the first to participate in the pilot phase of this long-term project. The KONA Electric will support the city in implementing its Smart City and Smart Region strategies, which focus on improving overall quality of life and environmental sustainability. Building on earlier experience with electric vehicles and a public charging station, the industrial city has also supported clean transport in public transit—since 2017, its bus lines have included 10 electric buses. At the time, this represented the largest fleet of electric buses in the Czech Republic.
“The city of Třinec has been using various types of electric vehicles for its operations since 2014. These were mostly models with significantly shorter ranges than the KONA and were primarily used for in-town transportation. The Hyundai electric vehicle will be mainly used by Mayor Věra Palkovská for longer business trips, while local inspections will mostly be handled by the Department of Transport and the Department of Environment and Agriculture. We have long supported clean mobility, and every step toward sustainability matters,” said Stanislav Cieslar, spokesperson for the Třinec City Hall.
The increasingly important role of low-emission vehicles is also reflected in production at Hyundai’s Nošovice plant. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles now make up 40% of total production. In 2020, the Nošovice-built KONA Electric became the first next-generation electric vehicle to be mass-produced in the Czech Republic, with approximately 65,000 units produced to date. There is also strong demand for electrified variants of the TUCSON model—the flagship vehicle of the Nošovice plant—with about one in three SUVs coming off the production line being either hybrid or plug-in hybrid.
In Třinec, drivers of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids can take advantage of four public charging stations, including one fast-charging station. The fast charger is located at the city bus terminal in the Třinec-Kamionka district, while two standard charging points operate in the Sosna housing estate near Třinec Hospital, and another is situated at City Hall on Jablunkovská Street.
