In 2021, rumours were heard of Hyundai ceasing development of all internal combustion engines. It would seem now as though those rumours were true, with a number of internal changes having taken place at Hyundai’s Namyang Research Institute as 2021 drew to a close, according to The Korea Economic Daily.
As part of these changes, the Powertrain Team has been converted to the Electrification Development Team, responsible for delving into the rapidly growing world of EVs, including research and development for future Hyundai products.
The Battery Development Center takes the place of the Engine Development Center which has been shuttered. Their sole focus is now electrification. The Project Management and Integrated Product Development Teams have partnered up and together will oversee mass production and design throughout each of the automaker’s vehicle levels. 12 000 R&D employees are affected by these changes at the Namyang Research Institute.
As the manufacturer responsible for no fewer than seventeen new vehicles being launched to market in 2021, (more than any other automotive group) Hyundai/KIA are most certainly on a roll, with five of those vehicles being full EV’s. Their prodigious plans for a new EV every year, indefinitely, is most certainly a statement of intent from the Korean motor giant, a plan that is already well underway with 2021’s model being the Ioniq 5, and the Ioniq 7 SUV on its way in 2022. While the news of this rather bold move having been made final might cause many to raise an eyebrow or two, it is worth noting that Hyundai/KIA’s current crop of powertrains is made up of pretty new and advanced technology, surely enough to see those products to the ends of their respective cycles and just in time, then, to herald in the inevitable era of the EV.
Fingers crossed, then, that South Africa is treated soon to what some are claiming to be some of the best EV’s on the market…
