Hyundai Motor and Kia to Invest 21 Trillion KRW in South Korea's Electric Vehicle Sector by 2030

Establishment of Korea's First New Concept PBV Electric Vehicle Dedicated Factory
Accelerating the Build of a Future Automotive Production Hub
Targeting Annual Electric Vehicle Production of 1.44 Million Units by 2030

Kia Autoland Hwaseong EV6 production line.
Photo by Hyundai Motor Company·Kia

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Hyundai Motor Company and Kia plan to invest a total of 21 trillion KRW by 2030 to significantly expand domestic annual electric vehicle (EV) production capacity to 1.44 million units. This volume represents 45% of Hyundai Motor and Kia’s global EV production in 2030. It is more than four times the 350,000 EVs scheduled for production domestically this year. Notably, it is close to half (45%) of the companies’ global EV production target of 3.23 million units in 2030.

On the 18th, Hyundai Motor and Kia announced that they will invest 21 trillion KRW in the domestic EV sector by 2030 to expand EV production capacity, diversify dedicated lineups, develop parts and advanced technologies, build infrastructure, and explore strategic partnerships for new businesses.

Hyundai Motor and Kia explained, “Investment in the domestic EV sector aims to advance the domestic EV ecosystem and strengthen the role as a hub leading global future automotive industry innovation,” adding, “It is expected to promote a virtuous cycle among domestic EV production, research and development, infrastructure, and related industries.”

◆ Establishment of Dedicated EV PBV Factory and Modification of Existing Factory Lines = Hyundai Motor and Kia will first expand domestic EV production capacity by establishing a dedicated factory for purpose-built mobility (PBV) EVs. They will also build a mixed production system for internal combustion engine vehicles and EVs and expand dedicated EV lines in existing factories.

Kia will invest several hundred billion KRW to build a dedicated PBV EV factory at Autoland Hwaseong. Construction will begin in the first half of next year on a site of approximately 20,000 pyeong (about 66,000 square meters). Mass production is targeted for the second half of 2025. At the start of mass production, an annual production capacity of 100,000 units will be secured, with plans to expand up to 150,000 units depending on market conditions.

Kia’s dedicated PBV EV factory will be built as an eco-friendly facility applying numerous future innovative manufacturing technologies to minimize carbon emissions. Efficiency and intelligence will also be pursued through Hyundai Motor and Kia’s smart factory brand E-FOREST technologies, including digital manufacturing systems.

Song Ho-sung, President of Kia, emphasized, “This is a major pillar of Kia’s ‘Plan S’ to challenge for the global No. 1 PBV market brand,” adding, “In the short term, Kia will pioneer new markets with derivative PBVs, and in the mid to long term, we will gradually increase PBV supply worldwide by leading with dedicated PBVs and autonomous driving technologies.”

In addition, as part of EV production innovation and optimization, Hyundai Motor Group’s future manufacturing innovation technology incubator, the Singapore Global Innovation Center (HMGICS), will gradually introduce flexible production systems, customized logistics systems, and digital manufacturing systems to domestic factories.

◆ Strengthening R&D and Building Charging Infrastructure = Hyundai Motor and Kia will also focus investments on research and development, including next-generation dedicated EV platform development, product lineup expansion, core parts and advanced technology development, and research facility construction. They will activate domestic technology development in collaboration with partners. Through this, they aim to diversify dedicated platform product lineups, advance PE (Power Electric) systems such as batteries and motors that are core to EV performance, and develop technologies to increase driving range per charge, thereby enhancing integrated product competitiveness encompassing both hardware and software.

To fundamentally improve EV performance, they will accelerate securing next-generation platforms. Starting with the ‘eM’ platform dedicated to passenger EVs introduced in 2025, various dedicated platforms by vehicle class will be sequentially developed under the ‘Integrated Modular Architecture’ system. Platforms applying the Integrated Modular Architecture will standardize batteries and motors to improve product development speed and efficiency.

Investment will also be made in infrastructure sectors such as EV charging solutions and customer services, which are key foundations for EV adoption. In particular, they will actively build ultra-fast charging infrastructure to maximize charging convenience for EV customers and continuously expand the charging network. Hyundai Motor and Kia launched the ultra-fast EV charging brand ‘E-Pit’ in March last year and released the EV charging service platform (E-CSP) last month.

Additionally, they have established a special purpose company (SPC) with Lotte Group, KB Asset Management, and others to expand ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure and develop a business model leasing chargers with a maximum capacity of 200 kW. They plan to install 5,000 ultra-fast chargers in major urban areas nationwide by 2025.

They are also exploring broad strategic partnerships related to EVs. New businesses will be pursued with domestic and international partners in areas such as batteries, charging, and UBESS (Used Battery Energy Storage System), which utilizes end-of-life batteries as energy storage devices.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Group is continuously preparing measures to help domestic parts suppliers effectively transition their businesses amid the automotive industry’s transformation, including electrification acceleration. They support sales expansion and business diversification in future vehicle fields through nurturing new items for internal combustion engine parts suppliers, supporting new business bidding opportunities, holding business transition seminars and technical consulting, and organizing electrification parts exhibitions.

A Hyundai Motor Group official stated, “The global EV market has moved beyond its infancy and the full-scale competition for leadership has begun,” emphasizing, “Hyundai Motor Group will respond agilely to the wave of eco-friendly future mobility through large-scale domestic investments and research and development.”

Meanwhile, Jang Young-jin, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, visited Kia Autoland Hwaseong on the same day to share Hyundai Motor Group’s mid- to long-term EV investment and PBV EV dedicated factory construction plans and exchanged broad opinions on future mobility industry development measures. Vice Minister Jang said, “It is significant that Hyundai Motor and Kia decided on large-scale domestic investments despite uncertain internal and external conditions,” adding, “As the automotive industry is entering a mobility revolution by converging with services such as infotainment and robotaxi, I urge companies to accelerate their innovation efforts.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.