Genesis has opened the doors of its engineering department to explain how it built the GV90, its new flagship electric SUV. At the GV90 Tech Day, held on October 28 at the Inspire Entertainment Resort on Yeongjong Island, Incheon, 12 of the engineers behind the car explained how they turned the Neolun Concept into a production model under the slogan "Engineered Craftsmanship."
The GV90 was revealed to the world in August in San Francisco (GV90 Neolun First Edition revealed), introducing world-first features such as independently opening coach doors without a B-pillar and a roof airbag. At the Tech Day, Genesis showed how each of them was developed, down to individual parts.
"Engineering is often called the art of compromise, but with the GV90 we reversed that order: we first set the standards we would never compromise on for our customers and kept them to the end," said Heo Kwang-hoon, Vice President and Head of Genesis Development.
Want to see the GV90 up close? Watch our video:
Neolun Arch Gate: Coach Doors Without A B-Pillar
To create the Neolun Arch Gate, the world's first independently opening coach doors with a hidden B-pillar, Genesis designed new hinges, latches and body structure from scratch (GV90 engineering secrets).
Dual Motion Hinge: the rear door first slides outward and then swings open, so front and rear doors open independently without eating into the cabin. It uses a linear motion guide, a high-precision part found in machine tools and industrial robots, to move the 70 kg rear door smoothly.
Two latches instead of a pillar: each door locks at the top and the bottom. A world-first Multi Release Controller opens both latches at once, and Dual Cinching Soft Closing pulls both shut together.
Chrome Crack technology: the radar sensors that detect obstacles when the doors open automatically sit behind the lower chrome trim, which has micro-cracks in the plating so the radar can pass through.
"No one had ever combined a swing and a slide in one automatic motion, so we went back to our university kinematics textbooks and even visited a furniture fair," said Nam Jin-woo, part leader of the Genesis Closure Design Team. "The key hint came from outside the car industry."
A Hidden Roll Cage For Pillarless Safety
Without a B-pillar, Genesis spread its job across the body and the doors. A hidden roll cage forms a solid ring around the door opening, with a 2.5-meter high-strength steel tube running from the A-pillar to the roof and structural foam at the joints. Inside the doors, ultra-high-strength dual steel beams act as the B-pillar when the doors are closed. A leaked photo of this structure already gave us a glimpse earlier this month (GV90 Neolun body-in-white leaked).
The result, according to Genesis's internal tests:
A roof strength of more than 14 tonnes-force in a rollover crush test, among the highest of any production car.
At least 320 mm of survival space for occupants after a 60 km/h perpendicular side impact.
A "Moon Jar" Design Without Visible Seams
The GV90's design is inspired by the Korean moon jar, so Genesis worked to make the body look like one seamless piece:
Cut-less headlights: the outer surface of the Wing Face MLA headlamps is painted in the body color, and a laser removes the paint only where the light shines through. Genesis adjusted the laser for each of the 16 exterior colors. The new MLA lamps are about 20% slimmer than the G90's, with better lighting performance, and the lens can be replaced separately from the housing.
Paint: a new automated paint line with AI vision inspection at the Ulsan EV plant, where each color was fine-tuned 48 times so that different materials match the body. The two-tone Neolun First Edition uses a new three-coat process for a smooth border between colors.
Natural materials: real wood, real stone and, for the first time on a Genesis, wool cashmere. More than 200 samples were tested to balance texture and durability, and a "Master Book" ensures that wood and stone grains match in every car.
"We even tested the rear wood floor with people getting in and out wearing golf shoes with spikes," said Nam Taek-sung, head of the Genesis CMF Team.
eMP Platform And A World-First Roof Airbag
The GV90 is the first model on Genesis's new flagship-only eMP (Electric Mobility Prime) platform. To create a seamless, fully flat floor across the first and second rows, Genesis moved the charging control unit (ICCU) and the climate control system into the front PE room, and hid the second-row seat rails inside the body. At the rear, a new three-dimensional PE module stacks the high-output motor, suspension and rear-wheel steering to free up cabin space.
Aluminum makes up 72% of the body structure, and hollow-cast parts around the suspension mounts remove joints altogether. In a small overlap crash, deflectors make the car slide away from the obstacle, while in a high-speed frontal crash the subframe and PE system slide under the battery to protect it. "Making a vehicle weighing more than three tonnes move exactly as designed in a crash is the real class a luxury flagship needs," said Park Ji-woong, head of the Body Architecture Development Team.
The world's first roof airbag deploys along the ceiling in a rollover, keeping occupants from being ejected through the glass roof and reducing head injuries. It covers 1,400 mm in just 0.08 seconds, guided by a new spring-housing wire system. Instead of the usual 90-degree tilt test, Genesis developed a new rollover test with rotations of more than 180 degrees, and validated the airbag in 40 vehicle tests and more than 300 module tests.
Dynamic Elegance On The Road
To keep a full-size SUV flat and agile, Genesis improved anti-lift performance by 19.5% over competitors and made the dampers' rebound springs 30% stiffer. The GV90 combines multi-chamber air suspension with monotube dual-valve electronic dampers, a first for Hyundai Motor Group, and a dual e-LSD that distributes torque between the left and right wheels on both axles.
"Once you drive it, you will feel how flat and nimble the body is, even though it is a full-size flagship SUV," said Jung Sung-ki, head of Genesis Test Group 1.
Quieter Than The G90
Genesis attacked noise at the source. By filming the motor shaft with high-speed cameras and lasers, engineers redesigned the motor-to-reducer shaft and gear surfaces, and added software that injects an opposite-phase current to cut the force behind motor noise by up to 40%. Every window uses acoustic glass, the door windows get acoustic film twice as thick as before, and wind noise ended up 2 dB below the original target after tests in windy California and at 240 km/h on Germany's Autobahn. The result: lower road noise than even the G90 flagship sedan.
See It In Person
At the event, Genesis displayed the GV90 Neolun's body-in-white, the eMP platform, a sound experience booth, prototype hinges, the cut-less headlights and the new battery system with thermal runaway protection, with around 30 engineers on hand to answer questions. If you are in Korea, the GV90 is also on display at Genesis Suji (GV90 exhibition at Genesis Suji).
"Just as a master craftsman spends a long time shaping a moon jar, the GV90 carries the time and effort of countless engineers," said Ahn Se-jin, Vice President of Genesis Project Group 2. "It is the most modern form of craftsmanship, completed through technology."
For more on the GV90, read about its specs (official specs) and expected pricing in Korea (GV90 pricing).
Source and photos: Genesis.
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