Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai) is expanding its ecological restoration efforts in Uljin County, following the success of its IONIQ 5 drone station, with the completion of a new drone station based on the IONIQ 9.
On Thursday, Hyundai announced that it had been collaborating with the Korea Arboreta and Gardens Institute (under the Korea Forest Service) and Tree Planet, a social venture specializing in tree planting, since last June. The partnership, set to last five years, aims to restore national forests damaged by wildfires along the East Coast. As part of this initiative, Hyundai has been using its IONIQ 5 Monitoring Drone Station for forest monitoring and data collection.
The newly developed IONIQ 9 Seed Ball Drone Station, created in partnership with forest restoration tech startup Guru E&T, is a specialized vehicle based on Hyundai’s flagship electric sport utility vehicle (SUV), the IONIQ 9. This innovative vehicle is designed for restoring and replanting damaged forest areas.
The vehicle is equipped with a large seed ball drone and a custom-built take-off and landing lift integrated into the trunk space. This setup enables the efficient aerial deployment of seed balls—clay spheres containing seeds—in hard-to-reach areas, thereby significantly enhancing reforestation efforts.
Leveraging the IONIQ 9’s spacious rear area, Hyundai has installed a high-precision integrated control system, complete with a dedicated personal computer (PC) and dual monitors for drone operations. The vehicle’s Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) function powers the control system, drone charging, communications, and video transmission.
Like its predecessor, the IONIQ 5 Monitoring Drone Station, this new station operates quietly with minimal vibration and zero emissions. Its optimized off-road performance ensures stable and environmentally friendly restoration activities in forested terrain.
Hyundai plans to deploy the new IONIQ 9 Seed Ball Drone Station alongside the existing IONIQ 5 Monitoring Drone Station to advance its smart forest ecological restoration project.
A Hyundai spokesperson emphasized that this ecological restoration project, utilizing both IONIQ drone stations, goes beyond mere tree planting. The spokesperson stated that it’s a collaboration in eco-friendly mobility technology. Further, Hyundai is committed to pursuing various partnerships based on sustainable mobility, aiming to lead in biodiversity conservation and forest restoration solutions.
The ongoing ecological restoration project in Uljin County, using the IONIQ 5 and 9 drone stations, is part of Hyundai’s broader IONIQ Forest initiative. This eco-friendly social contribution project, launched in 2016, engages customers and local communities in environmental efforts.
IONIQ Forest began by creating a dust prevention forest at the Incheon metropolitan landfill site and has since expanded to address various social and environmental issues through targeted reforestation efforts. The initiative has a global reach, with plans to plant 1 million trees across 13 countries, including the U.S., Brazil, Vietnam, India, and the Czech Republic, by July 2025.
