Hyundai Motor Group’s ‘Future’ Here: Hydrogen and Electric Vehicles, Plus the Quadruped Robot ‘Spot’

Hyundai Motor Group will showcase representative vehicles and robots that symbolically represent the group’s future vision at ‘Smart Energy Plus (SEP) 2026,’ which opens on the 28th in Hall B of COEX in Seoul’s Samsung-dong district.

At this year’s SEP, Hyundai Motor Group will exhibit Hyundai Motor’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the ‘All New Nexo’ (hereinafter Nexo), Kia’s first electrified PBV (Purpose-Built Vehicle) model, the ‘Kia PV5’ (hereinafter PV5), and Boston Dynamics, the group’s robotics subsidiary, quadruped walking robot ‘Spot.’

The Nexo is a next-generation passenger hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that symbolizes Hyundai Motor’s hydrogen energy vision and innovation in eco-friendly mobility. Hyundai Motor first launched the Nexo in March 2018 and unveiled a fully redesigned model last year.

The Nexo’s greatest strengths are its eco-friendliness, as it emits no harmful substances, and its overwhelming driving range of up to 720 km on a single charge. It also features a sophisticated, future-oriented style that encompasses both urban and outdoor environments, high-efficiency power performance based on a maximum motor output of 150 kW (kilowatts), and top-of-the-class safety and convenience specifications for its segment.

The Nexo is drawing attention not only in Korea but also overseas. Since its launch in Japan last April, it sold 20 units through August, recording an approximately 11% market share in the Japanese passenger hydrogen vehicle market. Including vehicles scheduled for customer delivery, total sales reached 35 units, of which 22 are notably being used as taxis, a sector with strict vehicle adoption standards.

The PV5 is a new-concept model developed based on the PBV-dedicated electrified platform ‘E-GMP.S,’ integrating hardware designed to respond to diverse customer needs and software solutions that support an optimal business environment. A Kia official emphasized, “Moving beyond the traditional manufacturer-centric production and sales model, this vehicle can accommodate various forms of mobility services, logistics, and leisure activities demanded by customers, marking the beginning of a true, customer-centered mobility innovation.”

A feature of Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicles, including the PV5, is V2L (Vehicle to Load) functionality, which allows battery power to be used for electronic devices. The group has taken this one step further by commercializing V2G (Vehicle to Grid) technology, which connects electric vehicle batteries to the power grid to enable two-way electricity exchange.

Spot will roam around various parts of the exhibition hall during the three days SEP is held, greeting audiences. Spot has been deployed at industrial sites of global companies in diverse fields such as energy, steel, and food, supporting tasks that are performed repetitively over long periods, such as sensing, inspection, and patrol. For example, it recently made headlines for being utilized in nuclear facility dismantling work in the UK earlier this year. Boston Dynamics has also recently demonstrated a ‘smarter’ Spot equipped with Google Gemini, showing it independently checking and executing a to-do list written on a blackboard.

Meanwhile, this event is co-hosted by Money Today and COEX, and organized by the National Assembly Hydrogen Economy Forum. It is evaluated as having proactively presented energy and mobility-related technologies, evolving from the ‘Korea Hydrogen Expo’ in 2019 and the ‘Green Business Week (GBW)’ in 2022 to ‘SEP’ last year.