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SINGAPORE – In the future, drivers can order and customize an electric car on their phone and see it being built in a highly automated factory right here in Singapore.
The Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Jurong, to be completed by the end of 2022, will be the first of its kind in the world.
The virtual opening ceremony, officiated by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, South Korean Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy, Sung Yun-mo, and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice President Euisun Chung, was held on Tuesday morning (October 13).
Noting the investment from the South Korean automaker, Prime Minister Lee said: “I am happy that Hyundai has chosen Singapore to locate its newest facility. It is an investment of almost $ 400 million and can produce up to 30,000 vehicles per year to 2025, five years from now. “
The center will act as an open innovation laboratory for Hyundai’s research and development in mobility concepts, which observers estimate will include autonomous vehicles and new forms of carpooling.
The 28,000 square meter facility will be futuristic. It will have a landing pad for passenger drones, which Hyundai is also developing, and will use renewable energy sources such as solar and hydrogen.
When ready, the facility will have a small-scale electric car assembly line that is expected to produce up to 30,000 vehicles a year.
The Straits Times understands that models that can be assembled here may include the Ioniq 5, a mid-size electric crossover based on the Hyundai Concept 45 that will be launched in Korea next year, and the yet-to-be announced Ioniq 3 electric compact. Cross.
Production of the Ioniq 5 will begin in late 2022, while the Ioniq 3 is expected to be produced in 2025. Cars made here will be retailed locally, and export plans will be launched at a later stage.
Customers will be able to purchase and personalize their vehicles on their phones. Once an order is confirmed, production will begin.
Hyundai is partnering with Nanyang University of Technology to, among other things, find ways to facilitate “smart personalization” functions that allow customers to personalize their cars.
Customers can see their car being assembled at the center, Hyundai said.
“Once the car is ready for delivery, it will be transferred to a 620m Sky Track where the customer can test it,” he added.
The Sky Track will be located atop the seven-story facility. Hyundai said it will employ several advanced manufacturing and logistics systems, including artificial intelligence, the internet of things and robotics.
This will result in a “highly automated work environment … safe and efficient”.
Hyundai will also test battery-as-a-service, where consumers buy an electric car without its battery, which can account for half its cost, and then rent the cells from Hyundai. This could dramatically reduce the cost of an electric vehicle.
The company did not disclose how many people the facility will employ, saying this “will be determined later … as the project evolves.”
Hyundai’s move will bring auto manufacturing back to Singapore after a nearly four-decade hiatus.
British home appliance maker Dyson announced in October 2018 that it would build electric cars in Singapore, only to take the company offline a year later.
PM Lee said: “Electric vehicles have fewer mechanical parts and more electronic products, which plays into Singapore’s strengths. That is why global companies that produce automotive electronics such as Delphi and Infineon are already in Singapore and carry here. some time”.
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