Kia Motors Corporation has announced that the company’s new Soul EV (electric vehicle), which will have its world premiere at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show starting later this week, has achieved UL Environment validation for bio-based organic carbon content for 10% of its interior materials.
[ads id=”0″ style=”float:left;padding:5px;”]UL Environment is the environmental business unit of UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a global independent safety science company. Various bio-based materials have been applied to the Soul EV, such as bio degradable plastic, bio-foam and bio-fabric. Unlike previous plastic materials that are based from oils, bio-based materials are derived from biomass, which is a photosynthate. Such modern biochemical technologies have replaced the majority of the existing chemistry industry by offering an alternative through development of new bio-materials.
The interior of Kia’s Soul EV includes various new materials such as 10% of bio-based plastic and anti-bacterial substances. Moreover, Kia has even applied five newly developed eco-friendly materials, including cellulose-based plastic and thermoplastic elastomer fabric.
In order to receive the UL Environment claim validation, Kia went through meticulous document review of the applied internal materials and onsite inspections of Kia’s manufacturing sites. UL Environment granted the validation to the Kia Soul EV for containing bio-based plastic of 23,942g and bio-based organic carbon content of 10%.
UL Environment presented Kia with validation badges for: 1) Weight of bio-based plastic 2) Content ratio of bio-based organic carbon materials, and 3) List of bio-based material application in the Kia Soul EV.
This achievement for the Kia Soul EV reflects the trend of the electric car transitioning from its original criteria of fuel efficiency and carbon emission to consideration of its product life cycle, which covers manufacturing, distribution and even discardment.
“We are proud that our Kia Soul EV has achieved the auto industry’s and the world’s first UL Environmental claim validation for its bio-based organic carbon content for 10% of its interior materials,” said Jong-Dae Lim, Vice President of Material Development Center of Hyundai-Kia R&D Center. “We will continue our efforts to develop cutting-edge products that satisfy not only the evolving market, but also customer needs.”
Stephen Hwang, President of UL Korea said, “Receiving UL Environment’s claim validation for the Kia Soul EV shows the company’s strenuous efforts in developing cars with the environment in mind. UL Korea will continue to support Kia as it builds its environmental leadership in the marketplace.”
