On the 29th of last month, at FitIn Station located in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, an Ioniq 5 electric taxi passed through a parking lot equipped with electric vehicle chargers and entered the building, stopping in front of an intelligent lift. As the lift raised the taxi, a door on one wall opened, and an autonomous robot arrived carrying a 450 kg battery pack.

The used battery pack was transferred to another robot, and a new battery pack was attached to the vehicle. The time taken for the operation did not exceed 15 minutes. During the process, workers only needed to remove the cover by unscrewing screws from the bottom of the taxi and check various metrics of the battery displayed on a monitor.

On Apr. 29, at the FitIn Station in Anyang City, the battery pack replacement of the Ioniq 5 taxi is taking place. An autonomous robot developed by FitIn is moving to replace the battery pack on the track created on the floor. /Courtesy of Jin Sang-hoon.

FitIn Station is the first comprehensive service facility for electric vehicle batteries established in the country in May last year. It primarily focuses on the replacement of battery packs for taxis and other electric commercial vehicles, offering services such as charging, washing, parts replacement, and gear oil changes.

FitIn, which operates the FitIn Station, was launched as an in-house venture of Hyundai Motor Group in September 2022 and became an independent corporation in July 2023. In just about two and a half years, it has applied for six patents, including for intelligent lifts, autonomous robots for battery replacement, fast chargers for battery packs, and a robot positioning system.

FitIn's main business is the 'Battery Swapping System (BSS)' service for commercial electric vehicles. As taxis and trucks have a high daily driving demand, their batteries deplete quickly and have a short lifespan. Additionally, it is challenging to insure these vehicles, and charging takes a long time, ranging from 50 to 90 minutes. Hence, the electric vehicle body can be owned by the buyer while the battery can be easily swapped daily through a subscription service.

Currently, the target audience for FitIn's battery subscription service is limited to taxis. This will also include the Kia PV5, the first purpose-built vehicle from Hyundai Motor Group, which is set to be released soon.

While currently FitIn Station operates only at its headquarters in Anyang as an initial pilot, a second site is set to commence construction in Suwon within this year. FitIn plans to expand the number of FitIn Stations to five locations in three years through additional investments and aims to expand to 500 locations by 2032. The necessary robots for battery pack replacement will be produced through outsourcing in China.

Outside the FitIn Station, electric vehicle chargers and automatic indoor washers are installed, allowing taxi drivers to charge and wash their cars themselves. /Courtesy of Jin Sang-hoon.

In the finished vehicle industry, there is a strong belief that the future electric vehicle market will evolve in various forms, including battery subscriptions and the remanufacturing and reuse of used batteries. In response, Hyundai Motor Group is early on nurturing and independent startups that are advancing new businesses related to electric vehicle batteries.

Founded as a startup within Hyundai Motor Group in 2019 and spun off in 2020, Poen specializes in the remanufacturing of battery packs. The management of end-of-life electric vehicle batteries is categorized into remanufacturing, which brings them close to new products, reuse for other purposes such as energy storage systems (ESS), and recycling, where only raw materials are extracted after disposal. Poen possesses high technology in the highly valuable remanufacturing area.

Battery remanufacturing is a technology needed by all: finished vehicle manufacturers, insurance companies, and electric vehicle buyers. Remanufactured batteries can be purchased at a lower price than new products.

On the 29th, at the Poen laboratory in Gunpo City, researchers are checking the batteries mounted in the vehicles. /Courtesy of Jin Sang-hoon.

Battery manufacturers are also increasingly collaborating with Poen. Various countries, including several in Europe, are imposing regulations that require finished vehicle manufacturers to meet usage ratios for recycled batteries, necessitating the production of batteries in forms different from previous methods. Poen possesses technologies for remanufacturing, reuse, and recycling and is collaborating with CATL, the world's leading battery manufacturer, following SK On.

Last January, Poen established a local subsidiary near Hyundai's U.S. quality analysis facility located in Los Angeles (LA) and is looking for sites to build factories in California and Nevada. As demand for remanufacturing and reuse of batteries by finished vehicle manufacturers rises, Poen has entered the U.S., the largest market, to secure customers beyond Hyundai and Kia.

Choi Seong-jin, CEO of Poen, noted, "Recently, we have been in discussions to establish partnership contracts with U.S. automobile corporations such as Ford and Stellantis. There is also a growing number of corporations in Europe looking to collaborate, including CATL and Volkswagen."

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