Singapore to phase out combustion engines by 2040, starts building Hyundai EV plant
Jerrica · Oct 14, 2020 12:32 PM
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Hyundai Motor Co. has started construction on their new electric vehicle (EV) hub in Singapore on Tuesday 13 October 2020. The SGD 400 million (RM 1.2b) hub will span 44,000 metre square, including a research building that will take up 28,000 metre square. Construction is expected to be completed in 2022.
Known as the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre in Singapore (HMGICS), the centre is more than just a high-tech plant that rolls out EVs under the Ioniq brand.
It will also function mainly as a research centre for Hyundai’s future mobility projects.
The first-of-its-kind facility will include a R&D lab, an EV manufacturing platform that will act as a testbed for human-centred intelligent manufacturing platform and a 620 m test track that HMGICS knows as the Sky Track.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong applauds the building of the HMGICS as a major step for both Hyundai Motors and the country.
The HMGICS will not only open up more business opportunities and partnerships with local suppliers and SMEs, it will also collaborate with Singapore’s universities and research institutes.
The Sky Track is build atop the facility
The opening of an EV hub in Singapore is also in line with the country’s very ambitious goal of phasing out combustion engines, both petrol and diesel, by 2040.
When completed, the facility will roll out up to 30,000 EVs annually.
Hyundai will also use the hub to establish a customer-centred approach. In future, customers will be able to customise and purchase vehicles online using their smart devices. The customers will even be able to watch their car being built at the HMGCIS.
Once the car is ready to be delivered, customers will be able to test drive the car at the facility’s Sky Track!
Hyundai has big dreams and now that the HMGCIS has started construction work, they’re one step closer to fulfilling their goal.
There isn’t a time in memory that doesn’t involve staring at cars. After discovering the excitement of watching Schumacher vs Hakkinen, Formula 1 became a major part of life. The love for cars and F1 ultimately led to a job with CAR Magazine. The untimely death of the magazine meant a hiatus from cars at lifestyle women’s magazine Marie Claire before another opportunity came knocking again.
