Bali. South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Group on Sunday revealed its plan to achieve net zero emissions throughout its entire value chains, including supply, production, logistics, and disposal and the possibility of using hydrogen as a future clean energy solution.

Speaking at a major business forum in Bali, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung said the plan will also involve Hyundai’s sister company Kia Corporation.

Hyundai Motor and Kia will sell only electric vehicles with no carbon emissions by 2040 in major markets, starting with Europe in 2035.

“Now is the time for bold decisions. And now is the time for leadership,” Chung told the delegates of the B20 Investment Forum, which preceded the Group of 20 (G20) Summit on the resort island.

“We are pursuing a net-zero strategy across all our value chains, including the purchase of auto parts, vehicle manufacturing, logistics, customer use of our products, and vehicle recycling. We need the strong support of global leaders who create policies that encourage investment in these new resources and technologies,” he added.

According to him, the auto industry is rethinking energy and investing in renewable energy, but it is an endeavor “that we cannot pursue alone”. 

The industry is currently facing a myriad of economic challenges such as the social and economic aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, a global semiconductor shortage, inflation, rising interest rates, and the soaring prices of raw materials, he said. 

Hyundai is considering hydrogen as the solution in the switch to clean energy.

“With renewables come different challenges—including limits on supply and storage. Hydrogen can solve many of these issues. And now, there is a global consensus on the importance of hydrogen as a future, limitless, energy solution,” Chung said.

Hyundai, which already opened Southeast Asia’s first electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Indonesia, is making a strong presence at the G20 Summit by providing nearly 400 electric vehicles for VIP guests at the request of the Indonesian government.

The vehicles include 131 Genesis Electrified G80 and 262 Hyundai IONIQ 5 units, the company said in a statement. 

Aluminum Supply
During the B20 Summit, Hyundai and local company Adaro Minerals Indonesia signed an agreement on the supply of low-carbon aluminum that will be produced by Adaro’s subsidiary Kalimantan Aluminum Industry.

The signing ceremony was attended also by Hyundai Motor Company President and CEO Jaehoon Chang and Adaro Minerals President Commissioner Garibaldi Thohir.

Hyundai said it may expand cooperation with other Indonesian partners in various areas, including battery cell production.