Kia Is Looking To Hydrogen For Future Cars

Not all automakers are big fans of electrification. Kia is joining the ranks of companies like Toyota that are looking to hydrogen fuel-cell technology as a way we all get around in the future.

During a recent interview with Auto Express, chief engineer Albert Biermann emphasized that Kia will keep supporting the Soul EV, even though it won’t be working on a future “Tesla fighter” model. Instead, look for a fuel cell Kia production car in about two years, which could use the second-gen Hyundai fuel-cell powertrain tech.

This might make electric car fans laugh or shake their heads sadly. The current trends in the market point toward electricity as the future fuel of choice for vehicles. It’s important to note that Toyota isn’t exactly jumping on the EV bandwagon, throwing its support behind hydrogen fuel cells, and that’s a big deal.

Kia does sell some hybrid cars. There’s a hybrid version of the Optima, and the Niro hybrid is set to launch late in 2016. Eventually, Kia plans to develop a new EV, but it wants to focus on a fuel-cell model first as a way of covering bases. So Kia isn’t exactly abandoning electrification, it’s just really pushing forward on hydrogen more for right now.

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Kia Aims For Self-Driving Car By 2030

The steady democratization of autonomous car technology continues at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, with populist South Korean automaker Kia announcing Tuesday that it is stepping up its mission to create a self-driving car for the masses by 2030.

In the nearer term, Kia executive vice president Seung Ho Hwang said the company was rebranding its suite of driver-assist technologies as DriveWise and will integrate features such as fully automated parking and highway driving assist into much of its model range by 2020.

"We will be investing $2 billion in the next two years on these technologies, so that a better quality of life goes not just to select people but to all our customers," Hwang said.

Kia execs also announced that the company will begin testing its fully autonomous prototype, based on its Sol electric vehicle, on Nevada roads soon. A more high-tech self-driving concept car dubbed the Novo features partially automated driving features as well as in-vehicle payment and start-button security that relies on a fingerprint. That same fingerprint, once scanned, automatically tees up the driver's infotainment and app preferences.

While Kia's news won't mean anything to consumers in the near term, it is a clear signal that cutting edge and safety-focused automotive technology is no longer just the domain of high-end luxury manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Tesla.

A few Kia videos screened at the press conference also hinted at the ride-sharing applications of low-cost autonomous cars. In one, a shopper at an outdoor market is seen talking into her wrist; minutes later the car she has summoned from a nearby parking spot drives itself into view. In another more whimsical scene, a hang-glider drifts toward earth as his driverless vehicle follows along beneath him to a pre-arranged rendezvous spot.

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