Hyundai Motor Group and Michelin Develop Premium Tires Exclusively for Electric Vehicles... "Leading the Future Mobility Market"

On the 17th, at Hyundai Motor Group's Namyang Research Center (located in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do), Kim Bong-su, Executive Director and Head of the Chassis Development Center (left), and George Levy, Vice President and Head of Michelin Asia Pacific OE (right), signed a business agreement and took a commemorative photo.

Photo by Hyundai Motor Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Hyundai Motor Group is partnering with global tire manufacturer Michelin to jointly develop next-generation tires.

On the 20th, Hyundai Motor Group announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Michelin on the 17th at the Namyang Research Center for the development of premium electric vehicle-exclusive and eco-friendly tires. The signing ceremony was attended by Kim Bong-soo, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor Group Chassis Development Center, and George Levy, Vice President and Head of Michelin Asia Pacific OE.

This collaboration aims to secure next-generation tire technology to realize the 'Smart Mobility Solution Provider' strategy and will continue for the next three years following the first five-year collaboration.

Specifically, the two companies will collaborate in areas including ▲development of next-generation premium electric vehicle-exclusive tires ▲development of eco-friendly tires to reduce carbon emissions ▲real-time tire monitoring systems necessary for advanced autonomous driving.

First, the two companies will develop next-generation tires required for premium electric vehicles. They expect this collaboration to significantly contribute to simultaneously securing tire durability and driving and energy efficiency performance, which must withstand high loads due to increased vehicle weight during the expansion of electric vehicle driving range and product competitiveness. Furthermore, based on the experience gained through this collaboration, they plan to pursue tire research for future mobility.

Additionally, the two companies plan to increase the application ratio of eco-friendly tire materials from the current approximately 20% by weight to about 50%. Through various joint research efforts during this collaboration, they also plan to take a further step toward reducing carbon emissions.

Moreover, the two companies will conduct joint research to comprehensively monitor not only existing tire temperature and air pressure but also tire wear level, load applied to the tire, and road friction to utilize this data in vehicle control systems. This is expected to greatly improve driver comfort by reducing vibration and noise generated during high-speed driving of electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, the first phase of technical cooperation with Michelin included ▲development of tires exclusive for Ioniq 5 ▲virtual driving performance prediction ▲research on high-performance tire testing and analysis methods ▲and specialized tire technology exchanges.

Kim Bong-soo, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor Group, said, “Through this technical cooperation with Michelin, we will maximize the automotive and tire technology capabilities of both companies to dramatically improve vehicle driving performance,” adding, “We aim to continuously lead the future mobility market through this.”

George Levy, Vice President of Michelin, said, “Through the previous collaboration, we were able to contribute to the successful launch of the Ioniq 5,” and added, “We want to continue our partnership to provide safer and more eco-friendly vehicles, and through this collaboration, we expect to achieve meaningful results in the new mobility development environment we face.”

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