Hyundai Motor Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work with the South Korean government as well as logistics, battery and mobility companies, Hyundai Glovis, LG Energy Solution and KST Mobility to demonstrate the electric vehicle (EV) battery leasing business. Through this agreement, Hyundai aims to foster an EV ecosystem by alleviating the initial cost burden of EV purchases and providing innovative services that enable eco-friendly reuse of batteries.
Under the agreement, KST Mobility, the taxi operator, will sell the ownership of batteries in newly purchased EVs to Hyundai Glovis, the battery lessor. KST Mobility then pays a monthly fee for battery usage. As a result, KST Mobility is able to have lower initial investment for EV purchases.
In this business model, Hyundai will oversee overall business operations while selling battery electric vehicles (BEV) to KST Mobility. Hyundai is also liable for providing battery warranty and replacement batteries for vehicles that return batteries after use. LG Energy Solution will analyze safety and residual value by purchasing batteries after use. It will also install these batteries into ESS units for fast-charging service and sell them to KST Mobility to utilize the chargers for its fleet of EV taxis. The driving and battery data from these EVs are shared with all parties under the MOU.
With the commercialization of battery rental service, Hyundai Motor expects that customers will be able to purchase BEVs at lower cost because they will only pay for the vehicle excluding battery cost. This is expected to foster EV adoption and expand the EV ecosystem.
