Hyundai, Kia to Use Wind Farms to Power EV Charging Network in Europe

South Korean automakers and global brands Hyundai and Kia are making new investments to enable their customers to charge their electric vehicles with clean energy. This energy will be procured from various wind farms being installed across Europe.

Hyundai has announced that its ‘Charge myHyundai’ network will be integrated with green energy so that the drivers of its electric vehicles are able to use green charging options provided by Digital Charging Solutions (DCS), an e-mobility service provider operating in Europe.

Hyundai has also said that it will purchase ‘Guarantee of Origin’ (GO) certificates to match energy for every charging session on its network. Under this system, an independent registry records every MWh of electricity produced from renewable sources – like wind – and verifies it with a GO certificate issued.

Michael Cole, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor Europe, says, “Hyundai is among the first OEMs to offer green public charging in Europe.”

Kia Corporation has also decided to partner with DCS and purchase GO certificates to reduce its carbon footprint and provide a better experience to the customer base. During the process, both Hyundai and Kia specify, electricity fed back into the grid systems to equal their charging requirements will be sourced from wind farms.

President of Kia Europe, Jason Jeong, states, “By pushing more green energy into the grid, we can increase the energy mix in favour of more sustainable sources.” Kia believes that until there is absolutely no grey energy on the grid, this latest action is a firm step in the right direction.

“In time, we hope to be part of a wider network that can work directly with renewable energy suppliers that offer customers 100 per cent green charging facilities,” adds Jeong.

The total amount of energy used by drivers who refill their electric car batteries via the Kia Charge network can be calculated easily, says the company. Thereafter, the automaker will make an equal amount of energy purchase from the wind farms of their choice, Kia adds.