Hyundai Mobis mass produces glove compartment for EVs

South Korea's Hyundai Mobis has developed an innovative glove compartment optimized for electric vehicles (EV) for use in the large sport utility EV Kia EV9.

With a larger capacity than its counterpart in conventional gas-powered vehicles, the Parabolic Motion Glove Compartment features higher utility and is the culmination of an idea that won a 2021 in-house company contest.

The automotive parts maker on Wednesday said it developed the compartment based on the structure of an aircraft's in-flight overhead bin. Referring to a parabolic trajectory like that of such a bin, the name means that the storage space moves differently than the conventional simple-rotation or cover-opening types in gas-powered vehicles.

In a car, the glove compartment is by the knees of the front passenger seat and usually stores small booklets like vehicle manuals, tissues, sunglasses or folding umbrellas.

Hyundai Mobis developed its groundbreaking compartment given how recent EV models have component packages different from those of conventional gas-powered cars. An EV can accommodate more space given the lack of need for an engine, thus enabling the expansion of the storage capacity of the glove compartment.

The new compartment is optimized for EVs under the parabolic motion method that boosts storage capacity to over eight liters, considerably more than the 5.5 liters that the compartment of a gas-powered vehicle usually has.

Hyundai Mobis said the idea for this technology earned the gold prize at a 2021 internal company competition and underwent a thorough commercialization process that resulted in mass production. The concept also drew attention as the development of a glove compartment mechanism optimized for EVs.

Since 2019, the company has received ideas from staff on future mobility to create a corporate culture of volunteerism and creative R&D. In the first half of this year alone, the cumulative number of such concepts submitted was 3,200.

Write to Nan-Sae Bin at binthere@hankyung.com