Hyundai Motor to build its own EV-charging station brand

South Korea’s auto giant Hyundai Motor Group on Tuesday unveiled a plan to build its own high-speed charging infrastructure for electric vehicle models under the new independent brand “E-pit.”

Under the new system, electric cars embedded with Hyundai Motor’s exclusive platform may operate for up to 100 kilometers upon a single five-minute charge at E-pit stations.

E-pit was inspired by pit stops where motorsports race cars pause for refueling, tire replacement, repairs, mechanical adjustments or a driver change during course.

These new charging stations will provide simplified processes, allowing users to access chargers by simply attaching the charging connector, without preliminary user verification.

They will also adopt a digital wallet system so that users can make payments through the E-pit mobile app, without an actual credit card.

A digital queue service will be introduced to reduce waiting times and prevent possible disputes between drivers.

The auto group’s plan is to establish 120 charging units in 20 E-pit stations within this year, starting with motorway service stations, to address increasing electric vehicle demands in the domestic market.

All-electric cars built on Hyundai Motor’s exclusive electric-global modular platform, or E-GMP, may charge up to 80 percent of their full battery capacity within 18 minutes on a single charge. The speed is almost twice faster than the average time required to fully charge an electric vehicle with conventional chargers.

Hyundai Motor and Kia, which together form the world’s fifth-largest carmaker by sales, are exerting all efforts to hold an upper hand in the electric vehicle market this year.

While Hyundai has recently unveiled its Ioniq 5, the first model to adopt the E-GMP system, Kia is set to follow suit with its EV6 this month. The group’s premium independent brand Genesis is also slated to roll out an electric model later in the year.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)