[2025 Green Mobility] Hong Gi-cheol, Hyundai Motor Executive Director, "Overcoming EV Phobia with BMS"

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award

"By advancing the BMS (Battery Management System) of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia to detect and diagnose abnormal battery conditions and utilize this information during the fire department's golden time, we will overcome the 'electric vehicle phobia' that has come to us."

[2025 Green Mobility] Hong Gi-cheol, Hyundai Motor Executive Director, "Overcoming EV Phobia with BMS"

Hong Gi-cheol, Executive Director of Battery Performance Development Office, Hyundai Motor Company

Hong Gi-cheol, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor Company's Battery Performance Development Office, who received the Green Mobility Award at the 2025 Korea Green Mobility Awards, is a key figure leading the development of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia's battery safety diagnostic monitoring technology.

Since 2020, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have been the first in the world to apply electric vehicle battery safety diagnostic monitoring technology to mass-produced vehicles. This technology measures voltage, current, temperature, insulation resistance, etc., during charging and parking of electric vehicle batteries to detect charging status, degradation, and micro short circuits. When an abnormality occurs in the battery, it takes proactive measures such as limiting the charging rate or cutting off power. It also has a risk warning system that transmits data to a remote support center, contacts the fire station, and sends text messages to the vehicle owner.

BMS system of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia (Provided by Hyundai Motor Company)

In particular, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia's battery monitoring technology can check the battery status for up to 60 hours after parking. In fact, in the case of the Kia EV6 fire that occurred in Geumsan, Chungcheongnam-do, in August last year, the BMS detected the dangerous situation and recorded it.

Starting with the first mass-produced electric vehicle BlueOn in 2010, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have built an electrification lineup ranging from sedans to sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and the premium brand Genesis. The core of electric vehicles is the battery.

The first electric vehicles released by Hyundai Motor Company and Kia had a driving range of only around 100 km per charge, but after numerous developments and trials and errors over the past 15 years, electric vehicles with a driving range of around 500 km are now being released one after another. The rapid charging time, which used to take more than 2 hours, has been reduced to the 10-minute range, and as various convenience features have developed, the electric vehicle market has grown rapidly.

Electric vehicle battery image of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia (Provided by Hyundai Motor Company)

However, consumer sentiment in the domestic electric vehicle market sharply froze due to a large-scale electric vehicle fire accident that occurred in Cheongna, Incheon, in August last year. The issues pointed out at the time included insufficient detection or warning of fire occurrence and the failure of firefighters to enter the scene initially.

Executive Director Hong emphasized, "Now, how well can we detect the safety status of the battery? How quickly can firefighters be dispatched to the scene in case of fire? These two questions will be the key tasks to overcome the electric vehicle phobia that has come to us." He added, "BMS safety diagnostic technology can be a technology that secures the 'golden time' for firefighters to suppress fires in a timely manner through early detection of fire occurrence."

Recently, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have been striving to expand the adoption of electric vehicles by enhancing safety reliability, such as implementing the 'Electric Vehicle Fire Safety Program' that supports up to 10 billion KRW for property damage caused by electric vehicle fires and expanding the electric vehicle safety inspection service.