Hyundai Motor Company is pushing harder into the electric-vehicle (EV) game.

The Korean carmaker announced in an August 2023 press statement that it will invest 109.4 trillion Won (around ₱4.6 trillion) over the next 10 years, including 35.8 trillion Won (around ₱1.5 trillion) for electrification.

The company said it plans to sell 2 million EVs globally by 2030, with a target of over 10 percent profitability. This is up from its original production target of 1.87 million units for that year.

"The value of cultivating human-centered innovation by further developing technology inherited from the past is the distinct heritage that a company with a rich legacy can provide," said Hyundai Motor Company president and CEO Jaehoon Chang said during the firm’s 2023 CEO Investor Day. 

"As it originated from Pony, the IONIQ 5 N—a high-performance EV scheduled for unveiling in July—will embrace and carry forward the enduring heritage of Hyundai Motor Company," he added.

New EV platform

Hyundai plans to develop a second-generation dedicated EV platform, under the new Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA), which will replace its Electric-Global Modular Platform.

The next-generation platform will be used on 13 new dedicated EV models from Hyundai, Kia and the luxury division Genesis through 2030. 

“With IMA, the company expects to standardize modules and parts between the models to further expand economies of scale and significantly reduce EV development complexity and costs,” Hyundai said.

The new platform will also enable software architecture compatibility in support of Hyundai Motor’s software-defined vehicle strategy. 

Hyundai 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 update advancements.

Longer-range batteries

Hyundai Motor plans to invest 9.5 trillion Won (around ₱405 billion) over the next 10 years to enhance internal capabilities for battery development, diversify external collaboration and develop next-generation batteries.

The company will primarily focus on lithium metal batteries and solid-state batteries. Lithium-iron-phosphate batteries with increased energy density and improved low-temperature efficiency are expected to debut by around 2025.

Hyundai Motor has established a specialized battery development organization within its Namyang R&D Center, focused on battery system and cell design, battery safety reliability and performance development and next-generation batteries. 

For solid-state batteries, Hyundai Motor is collaborating with companies like Solid Power to secure elements and manufacturing process technologies, along with tying up with SES to develop lithium metal batteries.

Hyundai Motor has likewise completed the construction of the Battery Joint Research Center at Seoul National University, which is scheduled to open on July 2023. 

The dedicated research facility is equipped with the highest specification laboratory equipment at the same level as Hyundai Motor's own to improve the quality and completeness of its research.

Less money for non-EVs

Hyundai said its proportion of global EV production is set to increase from 8 percent in 2023 to 34 percent in 2030. 

The company plans to expand production by region through a two-track approach of line conversion in internal-combustion-engine (ICE) factories and new dedicated EV plants. 

By utilizing existing lines, construction time is much shorter than building new plants and can be ramped up quickly to meet EV demand. The company is currently producing EVs in this way at its plants in the U.S., South Korea, the Czech Republic and India.

Hyundai’s first dedicated EV factory, the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia, is under construction with a targeted start-up date in the second half of 2024. It will have 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 2 trillion Won (around ₱85 billion), aims to start mass production in 2025.

From 2023 to 2025, it will implement a 50/50 funding split between ICE vehicles and future technologies. But from 2026 onwards, when EV volume expansion and the application of next-generation EV platforms are in full swing, investment in ICE will gradually decrease. 

And in Phase 3, when the sum of revenues through EV and software will be expected to exceed ICE, spending on electrification and future mobility will overtake ICE.

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