Its range was evaluated at 206 km in an urban driving setting, becoming the first EV in the nation to surpass the 200 km mark.

Hyundai said it has been developing advanced EVs in collaboration with leading battery makers, including LG Chem Ltd. and SK Innovation Co., that can run 320 km on one charge by 2018 and go over 400 km in 2020.

Its latest move is aimed at competing with American carmaker Tesla Motors Co., which is set to launch its Model 3 with a 346 km range in late 2017.

The Korean firm has been pushing for the so-called three-way strategy of developing all-electric, hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles at the same time, a way to not lose its ground in all possible green car areas.

"Consumers put high priority on the driving range when they consider buying an electric vehicle," a Hyundai Motor official said. "Hyundai will focus on developing highly efficient EVs for widespread use of eco-friendly cars."

With a 28 kilowatt-per-hour lithium-ion polymer battery pack on board, Ioniq Electric pairs an 88 kW electric motor with 295 Nm of torque.

It takes 24-33 minutes to completely fill its battery with a fast charging system and needs 4 hours and 25 minutes to fully charge at a normal charging station, Hyundai said. (Yonhap)