Hyundai To Invest $85 Billion To Push EV Plan; Announces New EV Platform

The Hyundai Motor Group has announced that it will be investing $85 billion towards accelerating its EV plan for the next decade.The company will implement this strategy and accelerate its transition toward becoming a smart mobility solution provider. Furthermore, in order to secure leadership in the future mobility industry, it has decided to focus on future businesses, such as autonomous driving, hydrogen, robotics and advanced air mobility.

The company aims for 2 million units in annual EV sales by 2030.The key parts of the strategy include introducing a next-generation modular architecture for EVs, strengthening EV production capacity, battery development capabilities and future businesses.

President and CEO, Jaehoon Chang, laid out the ‘Hyundai Motor Way’ roadmap for success in the electrification era. He announced that the company’s second-generation dedicated EV platform, under the new Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA), will replace its Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) going forward. The next-generation platform will be used on 13 new dedicated EV models from Hyundai Motor Group’s automotive brands Hyundai, Kia and Genesis through 2030. With IMA, the company expects to standardise modules and parts between the models to further expand economies of scale and significantly reduce EV development complexity and costs.

The vehicle development system implemented by the IMA represents a significant advancement compared to the current system, enabling maximum cost reduction through economies of scale. In the existing system, auto parts can only be shared among vehicles that share the same platform. However, with the IMA development system, over 80 common modules can be utilized across different segments, irrespective of vehicle type, allowing for versatile combinations. This breakthrough allows for greater flexibility and efficiency in the development process, paving the way for significant cost savings.

In the second-generation platform, the scope of vehicle development extends beyond the mid-sized SUVs covered by the current E-GMP system. It encompasses nearly all vehicle classes, ranging from small and large SUVs to pickup trucks, along with the flagship models of the Genesis brand.

Hyundai Motor plans to apply a range of battery solutions, including next-generation NCM batteries and LFP batteries, for the second-generation platform. The company is also exploring different form factors of batteries to enhance versatility. In addition, the integration of an AI-based battery management system will ensure real-time monitoring and diagnosis of battery conditions, ensuring enhanced safety by preventing thermal runaway.

The company aims to build an app ecosystem through the application of an open operating system and controller integration, including Level 3 and higher autonomous driving capabilities, high-performance semiconductors and over-the-air (OTA) update advancements.

Hyundai is building dedicated EV factories in regions that are expected to grow significantly in the future and require localization. The new factories will be equipped with new ‘smart factory’ technologies to maximize the efficiency of EV production.

Hyundai’s first dedicated EV factory, the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Georgia, U.S., is under construction with a targeted start-up date in the second half of 2024, with an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles to meet the demand for EVs in North America. Meanwhile, an EV-dedicated factory in Korea, which is being established with an investment of about KRW 2 trillion, aims to start mass production in 2025, responding not only to domestic demand for EVs but also to the rapidly growing global market.

Hyundai Motor is targeting more than 10 percent profitability for EVs in 2030 based on the EV development system implemented by the IMA, high-margin derivative model operation, cost reduction through production facility operations strategy and new revenue generation through SDVs.