Hyundai Motor Company held a virtual groundbreaking ceremony yesterday to mark the start of construction of a new research and development center in Singapore.
Officially known as the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS), the facility will be over 300,000 square feet in size. The project will cost an estimated $295 USD million, and construction is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2022.
“Automotive activities are becoming viable in Singapore once again. EVs have a different supply chain, fewer mechanical parts and more electronics, which plays to Singapore’s strengths,” Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.
In a press release, the South Korean automaker said the center will “act as a test bed for a human-centered intelligent manufacturing platform with small scale EV production on site,” without providing an official number.
Speaking at the virtual event, Prime Minister Lee revealed the HMGICS will eventually produce up to 30,000 electric vehicles per year, according to a report from Reuters.
That number was later confirmed by a spokesperson for the company.
The news of a new EV production facility is welcomed news for Singapore. Earlier this year Dyson announced it was not going to take its EV prototype to production. The vacuum cleaner maker had planned to manufacture the electric SUV in the country.
