Focus on Electric Cars, Hyundai Stops Internal Combustion Engine Research

Hyundai Motor Group announces the radical decision to stop research on the development of internal combustion engines. In other words, Hyundai will fully focus on electric vehicles.

Hyundai closed the conventional engine research and development (R&D) division which employed 12,000 researchers on December 23, 2021. The division was then transformed into R&D specifically for researching vehicle electrification.

Launching the Korean Economic Daily, Monday (27/12/2021), Hyundai declared a policy of not making new models of internal combustion engines.

“Now it is unavoidable to turn it into electrification. The development of our own engine is a great achievement, but we have to change the system to create future innovations based on the great assets of the past,” said Park Chung-kook, Head of R&D at Hyundai.

Hyundai’s electric vehicle R&D division is not only limited to developing new models according to the global automotive market, but also focuses on battery raw materials and semiconductor chips, considering that these two components are vital for electric cars.

Globally, Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon has set a target of selling 1.7 million electric cars by 2026, after establishing a partnership with Kia. This figure is 1 million more than the sales target for 2025.