Hyundai Kia Accelerates Electric Vehicle Development Through Open Innovation

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] Hyundai Kia Motors is accelerating the development of next-generation electric vehicle platforms through active open innovation with leading global electric vehicle specialists. Last month, they signed a joint commercial vehicle development agreement with the UK-based Arrival, and on the 11th, they partnered with the US company Canoo to jointly develop a compact and mid-size passenger electric vehicle platform.

According to the automotive industry on the 15th, Hyundai Kia Motors signed a mutual cooperation agreement on the 11th (local time) with the US electric vehicle specialist Canoo, located in Los Angeles, for the development of next-generation electric vehicles.

Accordingly, Canoo will provide technology support for developing a modular electric vehicle platform optimized for Hyundai Kia Motors. Canoo is a startup specializing in the skateboard platform field, which standardizes the installation of key electric vehicle components such as motors and batteries.

Hyundai Kia Motors expects that by equipping this platform in upcoming Hyundai Kia electric vehicles, they can simplify and standardize the development process and reduce the price of electric vehicles.

Electric vehicle skateboard platform developed by Canoo, an American electric vehicle specialist company

Canoo's platform is expected to be applied mainly to compact and mid-size passenger cars and is also anticipated to be used in the electric vehicle-based Purpose Built Mobility (PBV) sector, which Hyundai Kia Motors has presented as a vision. Hyundai Kia Motors explained that through this collaboration, they have established conditions to develop various concept models according to vehicle usage.

Meanwhile, last month Hyundai Kia Motors also signed an electric vehicle collaboration contract with Arrival, a UK-based commercial electric vehicle development specialist, and made a direct investment. In the future, Canoo's platform will be applied to compact and mid-size electric vehicles and Purpose Built Mobility, while Arrival's platform will be equipped in commercial vehicles, implementing a dual development strategy.

Conceptual Diagram of the Commercial Electric Vehicle Skateboard Platform Developed by Arrival

At the end of last year, Hyundai Motor announced the '2025 Strategy,' planning to invest 9.7 trillion KRW over the next six years in electrification. Kia Motors also set a plan to have a full lineup of electric vehicles by 2025 and to sell 500,000 electric vehicles globally in 2026, when sales are expected to fully ramp up.

Albert Biermann, Head of R&D at Hyundai Kia Motors, said, "Through cooperation with Canoo, which protects high technology in innovative electric vehicle architecture, we will develop an electric vehicle platform concept optimized for autonomous driving and mass production with price competitiveness."