Hyundai Motor Group partners with IITs to advance battery and electrification research

Hyundai Motor Group today announced partnerships with the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to establish a collaborative research system in the fields of batteries and electrification. The three institutes being the ones in Delhi, Bombay, and Madras.

Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest around $7 million over five years, from 2025 to 2029, to jointly conduct battery and electrification-related research with the IITs. The collaboration will expand into areas like software and hydrogen fuel cells.

The Hyundai Center of Excellence (CoE), which will be set up within IIT-Delhi, will operate through sponsorships from Hyundai Motor Group. The primary objective of the Hyundai CoE is to take the lead in driving advancements in batteries and electrification, specifically designed to meet the unique requirements of the Indian market.

Hyundai Motor Group officials, along with IIT representatives, including Prof Rangan Banerjee, Director at IIT-Delhi; Dean Sachin C Patwardhan at IIT-Bombay; and Dean Manu Santhanam at IIT-Madras, attended a ceremony at IIT-Delhi where they signed an agreement for the joint establishment of the ‘Hyundai Motor Group-IIT Hyundai CoE.’

“We are delighted to join forces with the IITs, a group of leading engineering universities renowned for their exceptional education and research,” said Naksup Sung, Head of Hyundai Motor Group Research and Development (R&D) Planning & Coordination Center. “We believe that Hyundai CoE will cultivate a strong network of talented individuals from India's academic landscape, driving innovation and growth.”

The group plans to contribute to the establishment of an electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem in India. This will be done in conjunction with various policies for expanding the EV distribution, implemented by the Indian Government. The collaboration will involve the Centre for Automotive Research and Tribology (CART), the only EV-related research institute in India, located within IIT-Delhi.

The Hyundai CoE will not only conduct joint research on academic-industrial cooperation tasks but also facilitate technical and human exchanges between battery and electrification experts from Korea and India. This will involve technical exchange meetings, special IIT lectures by the group’s battery and electrification experts, and operation of Korean visit training programmes. The group plans to continue efforts for fostering talent and mid- to long-term employment.