Hyundai Motor said Monday it has launched an upgraded midsized electric bus -- County Electric -- which can be used as a town shuttle bus or school bus for children. 

The County Electric has been extended by 600 millimeters compared to the previous diesel version. An additional lithium-ion 128-killowatt-hour battery has been attached to the bottom of the 7,710-millimeter-long car body, the automaker said. 

This allows the vehicle to travel up to 250 kilometers on a single full charge at around 28,000 won ($23), about one-fourth of the price when fully charging the diesel model, it added. It takes about 72 minutes to fully charge the vehicle by using DC combo Type 1 charger. 

Various safety features have been added to the County Electric, such as an ultrasonic sensor and a touch sensor which prevents entrapment. When the ultrasonic sensor detects the passenger’s movement at the door, the vehicle does not start even when accelerating, the company said. 

In the front seat, a 7-inch color LCD dashboard and a 4.2-inch additional screen offers wide and intuitive driving information, while an electric steering wheel and a smart key allows easy and convenient control of the car. 

“County Electric is a non-polluting bus with upgraded efficiency and convenient features, and we expect the model to secure higher competitiveness in the growing commercial electric bus market,” said a Hyundai Motor official. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)