Hyundai

• Hyundai’s $800 million battery research and development center in Korea will be completed by the end of 2026.
• The facility will conduct validation and testing for Hyundai’s in-house developed cells and chemistries.
• Automakers are increasingly trying to vertically integrate battery operations for better control over costs and processes. 

Hyundai Motor Group, the parent of the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, celebrated on Friday the construction of its newest dedicated battery research and development center in South Korea—and this one is a big deal for the automaker’s efforts to keep powering cutting-edge EVs and hybrids. 

The 1.2 trillion won ($817 million) facility, called the Future Mobility Battery Campus, is designed to let Hyundai run what it calls “continuous process validation,” which is essentially more real-world quality and durability testing before the battery packs enter mass production. 

If the technology proves itself here, it gets the green light to power future Hyundais. If not, the 200,000 square-meter (2.15 million square feet) facility has the equipment to diagnose and fix the battery issues early.

Hyundai said it has been experimenting with cell materials and designs at its Namyang and Uiwang R&D centers, but the new campus is meant to crank things up. It will develop next-generation high-performance lithium-ion batteries for EVs and extended-range hybrids across multiple cell formats, while also simulating real manufacturing conditions for electrodes, cell assembly and safety testing. 

The automaker isn’t the only one bringing more battery expertise in-house. More automakers are now taking this approach. Developing their own packs and chemistries gives them tighter control over cost, performance, safety and software integration. 

Leaving those critical elements in the hands of suppliers has some disadvantages, like different innovation cycles and less control over vehicle integration. And that may as well be the difference between being competitive in an increasingly tough EV race, or getting left behind as rivals bring more battery operations under the same roof. 

Tesla, General Motors and BYD are already deep into this but also still rely on suppliers while their own battery operations take time to gain momentum. And Toyota is also working hard to bring more battery R&D and manufacturing in-house, including its $14 billion battery campus for EVs and hybrids in North Carolina.

GM is building a similar setup in Warren, Michigan to validate its upcoming lithium-manganese-rich cells ahead of mass production in 2028 for full-size SUVs and trucks. Hyundai has also joined Ram, Ford, Volvo, and several Chinese brands in developing extended-range EVs, and the work done at this new site will likely show up first in those models. It’s also working on solid-state batteries, although it’s relatively more tight-lipped about what’s happening on that front.

All said, the race is on to keep future Hyundai EVs competitive and batteries will likely play a central role in determining how that goes.

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