Kia pledges to be fully electric by 2040, carbon neutral by 2045
Words: Matthew Hansen
As it prepares to reveal its new Concept EV9, Kia has announced that it will be fully electric in Europe by 2035, fully electric in all markets by 2040, and carbon neutral across its operations by 2045.
The brand boasts that it will become a ‘Sustainable Mobile Solutions Provider’, underlining potential ambitions in other areas of mobility, like ridesharing.
“For us, it is not only about setting goals and reaching targets. It is about setting a vision that will inspire others to join the movement to benefit humanity and protect the environment,” said Hosung Song, President and CEO of Kia.
“In line with our vision of becoming a sustainable mobility solutions provider, we commit to achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.”
The firm says that its push for carbon neutrality will rely on adhering to three internal pillars; sustainable mobility, sustainable planet, and sustainable energy.
Apart from increasing the amount of plug-in vehicles it produces, these pillars will be looked upon to make Kia’s operations more environmentally sound, across things like waste management and the creation of environmental incentives in areas outside of motoring.
Chiefly, Kia will create ‘Blue Carbon’; a project that will see the firm invest in preserving Korean wetlands. It will also collaborate with ‘The Ocean Cleanup’, a non-profit group developing way to reduce the amount of plastic that gets into the ocean.
Its relationship with The Ocean Cleanup is hoped to reap tangible benefits for the brand’s cars, with Kia noting that it aims to use the plastics the brand recovers in the ocean in its cars. It aims for 20 per cent of the plastic used across its line-up to be recycled plastic by 2030.
As far as Kia’s announcement is concerned, 2030 is a big year. Along with its recycled plastics aims, Kia has also pledged to use only renewable energy sources in its facilities outside of South Korea (South Korea will adopt renewables by 2040), and by 2030 all of its fleet vehicles will be electrified.
