Hyundai and Kia open $58M green tech center

Bolstering their green credentials and commitment to the environment, Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia have teamed up on a $50 million green tech R&D center. The purpose of the facility will be to "accelerate the commercialization of fuel-cell electric vehicles," and it is kitted out with a hydrogen filling station, an endurance tester, emissions lab, and dynos. There is also a prototype plant for automated vehicle dismantling that will explore options for bettering the amount of recyclables in the modern car. Even the toilets at the facility are green: they are vacuum units, as on airplanes, that will save 1,500 tons of water per year. Hyundai and Kia have not been considered major players in the hybrid movement, but, depending on what starts to come out of this center, that could change rather soon.

[Source: Inside Line]