By Moses Akaigwe
Hyundai Motor Company, an official sponsor of FIFA World Cup 2022, has announced it would help the world’s biggest football tournament achieve its carbon neutral goal by providing eco-friendly vehicles for 50 percent of the event’s passenger transportation.
This marks the first time in the history of the competition to have eco-friendly vehicles in the event fleet at this scale.
Overall, Hyundai Motor will provide 616 fleet vehicles to FIFA World Cup 2022. Of that fleet, there will be 446 passenger vehicles, with just over half (226 units) being hybrid electric (HEV) and battery electric (BEV) models. Hyundai will also provide 10 Elec City electric buses for use during the event, which takes place in Qatar from November 20 to December 18.
“Hyundai Motor and FIFA share a strong commitment to make this year’s event a sustainable success through the use of clean mobility. By providing our eco-friendly hybrid and battery electric vehicles as ground transportation, we expect to achieve our shared goal of making the World Cup in Qatar a win-win for planet Earth and humanity,” Jaehoon Chang President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company
Charged up for a carbon-neutral World Cup
Hyundai Motor is preparing a dedicated organization and support system for stable EV operations. It will provide Hyundai IONIQ 5, Sonata HEV, Tucson HEV and KONA HEV as well as Genesis G80 EV and GV70 EV to transport FIFA VIPs and staff, and Elec City buses to transport members of the media.
In addition, the company will operate road-side charging services to discharged BEVs using the innovative Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) function on two IONIQ 5 BEVs. FIFA will provide 100 kW-150 kW EV chargers at the event’s parking facilities located in Doha, Qatar, to ensure the BEVs’ continuous operation.
Hyundai Motor will conduct real-time monitoring of the fleet vehicles for any breakage or accidents, and provide prompt service response, such as emergency dispatch, troubleshooting and vehicle inspection as needed.
The company is also utilizing a real-time vehicle control service to improve fleet service quality management. By detecting any accident or vehicle breakage in real time, the system unifies all processes from vehicle warehousing and emergency dispatch to vehicle repair and accident response.
For seamless service throughout the entire competition period, a dedicated team from HMC Headquarters Service, Sub-Middle East Regional Service and Sub-Middle East Regional Quality Center will stand by at a Quality Situation Room in the FIFA parking facilities to assist with local operation. The team will use Qatar dealership service infrastructure for vehicle repair as needed.
Starting in October, Hyundai Motor has conducted a training programme about its HEVs and BEVs for all drivers involved in the fleet operation.
In Nigeria where Hyundai is represented by Hyundai Motors Nigeria Ltd, though there is a general lull in the market, the brand has managed to maintain an appreciable level of patronage