40% Reduction in Carbon Emissions from Car Painting Process... Hyundai Motor Develops New Technology

Energy Consumption Highest in Automotive Manufacturing Process: Painting
Lowering Curing Temperature with New Materials... Equivalent to Carbon Absorption of 2 Million Pine Trees

Hyundai Motor Company announced on the 30th that it has developed a new technology to reduce energy consumption in the automotive painting process.

Painting is the process of applying paint and other coatings to the vehicle body surface, and it is considered the stage with the highest energy consumption (43%) among the entire automobile manufacturing process. The company expects that commercializing the new technology will reduce energy consumption and cut carbon emissions by about 40% compared to current levels.

The G80 body, which passed the low-temperature curing painting process using the newly developed painting technology by Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai Motor used a new raw material different from the existing one in the painting process. Painting involves pretreatment, primer, intermediate, and topcoat painting, and the new technology was applied during the curing process stage, where paint applied at high temperatures is hardened. The existing topcoat curing process is carried out at 140℃ for 20 minutes. The key is that the same quality can be maintained by conducting the process at 90℃ for only 20 minutes.

The existing paint contained melamine, which cures at high temperatures, but the newly developed paint uses isocyanate components that cure at lower temperatures than melamine. By lowering the required temperature by 50℃, energy consumption in the production process can be significantly reduced.

The company explained, "If this technology is commercialized, carbon emissions and gas usage in this sector can be reduced by about 40%. Applying it to all Hyundai factories domestically and internationally can reduce 16,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually from the entire process." This amount of carbon corresponds to 2 million pine trees or 16 million square meters of forest area.

Existing G80 vehicle (left) and G80 test vehicle made to test low-temperature curing technology

Painting quality is also expected to improve. The existing process was difficult to apply to plastic bumpers and other parts made of different materials from the vehicle body, so these were supplied pre-painted by partner companies and then assembled. By applying the low-temperature curing process, parts made of composites can be painted at once. This minimizes issues where the colors or surfaces of the body, bumper, and fender differ from each other.

Hyundai Motor conducted a pilot application of this technology at its Ulsan Plant 5, producing Genesis G80 vehicles for testing. The company plans to continuously monitor and evaluate whether the technology can be fully applied. A company official said, "This technology considers the value that can be created from the vehicle production stage."

G80 body passing through the stamping line. It shows the difference between high-temperature hardness (left) and low-temperature hardness.

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