The Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) has established a battery research center via a partnership with the Seoul National University (SNU). Their overall goal is to improve electric vehicle driving distance and the shortening of charge times.
Hyundai executives together with SNU professors
Boasting high-tech research infrastructure, the new facility is located within SNU’s main campus in the Gwanak District of Seoul City. The engineers and scientists who will man the facility are Korea’s foremost experts on battery technology, thus serving to bridge the gap between the car industry and academia.
Specific areas of research that the new establishment will cover include lithium metal, solid-state batteries, battery management systems, battery process technologies, and among others. The research center also goes beyond theoretical studies and considers mass production. This means it has the capability to quickly apply research results to products like EVs.
The group also ensures that the facility will run smoothly by putting up a fully-fledged support system. Until 2030, HMG will also invest around 30 billion Korean Won into the facility to aid its research activities and projects. At current exchange rates, that investment is equivalent to about Php 1.284 billion.
Besides monetary support, both Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia will also be sending their own teams of scientists and engineers to become members of the SNU - Hyundai joint research facility. Seminars and consultations on battery technologies will also be held in the new research center as a means to share knowledge between SNU and the Hyundai Motor Group.
HMG and SNU executives during the joint research facility's inauguration ceremony
During the inauguration of the facility, Hyundai Executive Chair Euisun Chung said that the advanced batteries this joint research facility will develop will aid the brand in building a diverse lineup of mobility solutions. The university This coincides with the company’s “commitment to a sustainable environment for future generations.”
Note that Hyundai’s global push for EVs includes the Philippine market where the Ioniq 5 fully-electric crossover is already available. As such, it is highly likely that the fruits of this joint effort will someday reach local roads as well.
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