Executive Chair Chung Euisun underscores importance of pioneering AI, robotics and hydrogen technologies
Hyundai Motor Group held a celebration to mark the 20th anniversary of Hyundai America Technical Center’s California Proving Ground in California City earlier this week, the Korean auto conglomerate said Thursday.
“Hyundai Motor Group has made exceptional progress over the past 20 years, thanks in part to our California Proving Ground and the outstanding work of our team there,” said Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun during the celebratory event at the testing facility on Monday.
The Hyundai Motor Group chief also underscored the importance of being the first to develop the next technologies.
“As we look to the future, we must focus on pioneering technologies such as AI, robotics, Software Defined Vehicles, electrification and hydrogen technology,” said Chung.
“Facilities like the California Proving Ground will be critical to that innovation and will help shape the next 20 years of Hyundai Motor Group, turning challenges into opportunities and setbacks into successes.”
The 17.7-square-kilometer testing facility, which opened in 2005 in the middle of the Mojave Desert with 120 billion won ($82.6 million) investment, has tested the quality, durability, reliability and safety of more than 5,000 Hyundai Motor, Kia and Genesis vehicles as they had to go through a variety of roads and in extreme conditions. The accumulated driving distance at the testing site is estimated at over 3.2 million km.
Hyundai Motor said the quality, durability and safety of its vehicles improved with the California Proving Ground, leading to new models receiving positive feedback from the market and catching the eyes of customers. Since the Korean auto giant made its way into the world’s fifth biggest auto seller in 2010, it became the third largest auto brand for the first time in 2022 and has maintained the ranking for three years in a row.
Evaluating the Korean automaker’s cars operation in North America, the testing facility includes numerous courses such as a 10.3-km oval track, a vehicle dynamics area, a 5-km winding road track, a hill road, off-road evaluation loops, a road with six different degrees of slope, a road with 18 types of surface and specially surfaced roads constructed to replicate US highways.
As the members of the California Proving Ground test vehicles’ noise, vibration and harshness and heat protection to make sure the wholesome quality of tested cars, the site features a material-weathering facility to accelerate and assess ultraviolet degradation.
Along with the California Proving Ground, Hyundai Motor operates other facilities dedicated to design, engineering and technology of its vehicles in the United States.
The Chino Lab in Chino, California, is a specialized research facility focused on powertrain performance tuning with a special emphasis on eco-friendly vehicle applications. The Cradle, which is located in Silicon Valley, California, is home to acceleration programs and next-generation technologies including mobility, electrification, connectivity and robotics. There are also the Hyundai America Design & Engineering Center in Irvine, California, and the North America Quality Center in Chino.
By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)
