Hyundai's G90 passes stringent testing

Prototype vehicles of Hyundai Motor’s premium luxury G90 run on an unpaved road inside the carmaker’s California Proving Ground in the Mojave Desert. / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor

By Lee Hyo-sik

LOS ANGELES ― Hyundai Motor has been testing its next-generation premium luxury sedan, the EQ900 (globally branded as G90), at its test site in California and elsewhere to perfect it into one of the world’s safest and most reliable vehicles.

The premium sedan has been subject to a wide range of stringent tests at the firm’s California Proving Ground (CPG), located in the middle of the Mojave Desert, over the past year.

The site, which spans about 17.7 square kilometers, has 11 testing tracks and has been serving as a pivotal facility since 2004 for Korea’s largest automaker when it introduces new vehicles in the United States and elsewhere.

Hyundai Motor America officials said the G90 has performed better than previously expected, adding that it outperforms the BMW 7 series, Mercedes Benz’s S-class and Lexus LS series vehicles in driving dynamics, handling, rider comfort and many other standards.

“Prior to the G90’s debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January next year, we have been testing the car under various road conditions,” said Kwag Byeong-cheol, a vehicle evaluation chief coordinator at the Hyundai-Kia American Technical Center. “We send its performance data back to our research center in Korea so that researchers can adjust vehicle specifications and take other necessary steps to make it better.”

Kwag said Hyundai will begin mass-producing the G90 in May, which will be available for U.S. consumers as early as July.

The CPG, which is on a par with those run by General Motors, Ford and Toyota in the United States, has 11 test tracks measuring driving comfort, brake performance, and road noise and vibration under various road conditions.

“The Mojave Desert is very hot and dry in the summer when temperatures can reach as high as 54 degrees Celsius,” Kwag said. “In the winter, it rains and snows quite often when the temperature averages about 26 degrees Celsius. So, the CPG is a perfect place to test cars under varied conditions. We also test the durability of the materials used in the vehicles by exposing them to the extreme heat.”

The coordinator said Hyundai’s second-generation Genesis luxury sedan underwent various tests at the CPG before it was launched in 2013, adding that the facility has been the key to its success in the U.S. market.

“I believe that the G90 will become an even bigger hit next year when it is released in the United States,” he said. “If the luxury sedan is well received by U.S. consumers, we can repeat its success more easily in Europe and other major auto markets.”

Besides its rigorous assessment of the G90 at the CPG, Hyundai has been testing the vehicle in Alaska and elsewhere to check how it performs under various road and weather conditions.

“We tested the G90 in Alaska, Colorado and other places in the United States that show extreme weather patterns. We also took the vehicle to places that exhibit extreme road conditions,” Kwag said. “The car has also been tested in New York, Los Angeles and other large cities to measure its in-the-city performance.”