Hyundai Motor and Kia said on the 18th they have teamed up with Indian Institutes of Technology to secure technology in electric-vehicle battery and electrification fields.
Hyundai Future Mobility Innovation Center signed agreements on the 15th with four schools—the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) Nagpur, and Tezpur University—to join a joint research framework.
The Hyundai innovation center is a mid- to long-term strategic industry-academia collaboration model that Hyundai Motor and Kia launched with IIT in Apr. last year. The goal is to strengthen market responsiveness through co-growth with India's technology and manufacturing sectors. Top-tier universities including IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, and IIT Bombay have taken part in the Hyundai innovation center.
IIT is India's top engineering education institution established in 1951. It operates 23 campuses across India and researches innovative technologies. VNIT Nagpur is a national institute of technology in India that has conducted research on EV systems. Tezpur University is a comprehensive public university under the central government of India, established in 1994.
With the agreements, four of India's top engineering schools have newly joined. Researchers from these schools will carry out a total of 39 industry-academia research projects, including battery and electrification, new materials research, and development of an AI-based V2G platform. A Hyundai Motor and Kia official said, "The joint research framework of the Hyundai innovation center has effectively expanded across India."
Hyundai Motor and Kia will focus on localized battery design and electrification performance development through joint research with Indian universities. They plan to concentrate on nurturing talent and strengthening capabilities for future mobility development. As part of that effort, they plan to invite deans and professors from seven universities to Korea next month to discuss cooperation measures.
Kim Chang-hwan, executive vice president in charge of Electrification Energy Solutions at Hyundai Motor and Kia, said, "This agreement is a shared promise for the future," adding, "Hyundai Motor Group and Indian academia will work together to build a sustainable, innovative, and brighter future."