[2026 K-Mobility Tech Awards] K-MTA Leading Company Future Energy Mobility Leadership Category
Kia has received an award in the Future Energy Mobility Leadership category at the “2026 K-Mobility Tech Awards.”
The key factors in Kia’s award were the domestic demonstration and customer expansion of its V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) technology, which connects electric vehicles and the power grid in both directions. After launching a pilot service in cooperation with mobility platform SOCAR on Jeju Island in the second half of 2025, the company expanded verification in May 2026 to 40 general customers, thereby concretizing a bidirectional charging-based model for power storage and resupply. The model stores surplus power from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar in electric vehicles and resupplies it to the grid during peak demand periods, achieving a deferral of investment in energy storage system (ESS) infrastructure, stabilization of the power grid, and improved utilization of renewable energy at the same time.
The V2G demonstration on Jeju Island—where the proportion of wind and solar power generation is high—has drawn attention as it stores surplus electricity generated during the day in electric vehicles and feeds it back into the grid at night.
Major electric vehicles such as the Kia EV9 are equipped with V2G technology, and the company’s vision of redefining electric vehicles—previously limited to simple means of transportation—as strategic assets that store and share energy was highly evaluated in this award. Another factor behind the recognition was that Kia is seen as leading a new paradigm that transforms the supplier-centric energy industry structure into a region-based, self-sustaining energy economy model.
Having secured international recognition for its product competitiveness, including the EV6 being named World Car of the Year and the EV9 winning major global awards, Kia is enhancing its status as a global finished vehicle manufacturer by targeting sales of KRW 114 trillion in 2025.
Kia plans to open up a future in which electric vehicles become the central axis of the energy transition by fostering a V2G ecosystem.
Yun Hee-seon
AI-translated with ChatGPT. Provided as is; original Korean text prevails.
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