Hyundai and Kia's NOVA Lab Finds Up to 200 Vehicle Issues Before a Prototype Exists
At Hyundai and Kia's NOVA Lab, engineers assemble a vehicle's complete electrical system before the body exists, catching up to 200 issues early.
- 150-200
- 300-500
- ~500
- 2019
What Happened
Modern vehicles rely on hundreds of controllers for propulsion, infotainment, connectivity, safety and ADAS. Problems often appear only when those controllers communicate and operate together, and may stay hidden until late-stage development, so Hyundai Motor and Kia run the NOVA Lab (Next-generation Open Validation & Automation Lab) at Namyang R&D Center to validate the full electrical architecture before a physical prototype is assembled. The wire-car validation approach was first introduced in 2019 and later expanded into today's NOVA Lab. In the wire-car test bench, controllers, wiring harnesses and electronic components are physically connected exactly as in a production vehicle — with no body, doors or interior — helping identify roughly 150 to 200 issues during development. NOVA Lab is part of a digital-first ecosystem: the Driving Simulator reduces reliance on physical testing, the Digital Measuring Center turns dimensional quality into measurable data, and the Additive Manufacturing Solution Center accelerates part design and production.
- Focused on individual controllers and subsystems.
- Evaluates how entire vehicle systems perform together before prototype assembly.
- Electrical circuit integrity
- Communication between vehicle controllers
- Functional performance
- Diagnostic system response
For some vehicle programs, engineers connect 300 to 500 controllers through about 500 wiring connectors, checking that signals are transmitted correctly, arrive at the right timing and are handled appropriately when faults occur. Early testing frequently uncovers communication failures, logic conflicts and abnormal power consumption that are difficult to see in component-level tests. A proprietary Torque Wheel Dynamometer combines a Hyundai Motor and Kia-developed drive load unit with a compact dynamometer, simulating acceleration, deceleration and driving loads so speed-dependent functions can be validated before a road test.
NOVA Lab's ADAS simulation environment uses hardware-in-the-loop technologies to calculate vehicle behavior and communication states in real time. Virtual road imagery is projected into vehicle cameras, while Radar Target Simulators generate synthetic traffic targets for radar sensors, creating a virtual driving environment without a physical prototype. Engineers can validate Smart Cruise Control, Blind-Spot Collision Warning, Lane Following Assist, Lane Keeping Assist and Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist before the vehicle reaches a proving ground.
As Hyundai Motor and Kia move toward software-defined vehicles, vehicle architectures are becoming increasingly centralized and software-driven, with networks evolving from CAN to high-speed Ethernet and electrical systems expanding from 12V to 48V. NOVA Lab has expanded its validation to cover Ethernet communication, 48V power systems and integrated power-supply equipment that reproduces low-voltage, overvoltage and other real-world electrical conditions, along with over-the-air software updates. The facility is also exploring AI-assisted technologies to identify anomalies in continuously collected vehicle data, and it supports future robotaxi platforms by validating redundant braking and steering architectures and enhanced cybersecurity systems.
“Software-defined vehicles are designed to continuously deliver greater convenience to customers through technologies such as over-the-air updates. Our goal at NOVA Lab is to improve software quality early in development so customers experience only the benefits of an evolving vehicle, not the disruptions that can result from quality-related issues.”
Previously from Kia
Previous MotorClaw coverage described Hyundai and Kia's Additive Manufacturing Solution Center at Namyang R&D, where industrial 3D printing turns digital designs into complex parts faster. Kia has also said its exhaustive validation program — not one headline figure — helped the Sportage and EV3 win separate comparison tests.
- Hyundai and Kia's New 3D Printing Center Accelerates Product Development
- Kia's Testing Process Pays Off as Sportage and EV3 Win Independent Comparisons
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Kia's official releases.
Why this matters
Modern vehicles run on hundreds of controllers, and software conflicts can surface when all systems work together, often late in development. By testing the complete electrical architecture on a wire-car before any prototype exists, Hyundai and Kia can resolve 150-200 issues early, improving software maturity and development efficiency. That matters for buyers as software-defined vehicles roll out over-the-air updates: the lab's goal is for customers to e…
Terms in This Story
- wire-car
- A full-scale test setup with a vehicle's controllers, wiring and electronic components connected exactly as in production, but without the body, doors or interior.
- hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)
- A testing method that connects real hardware components to a computer simulation, allowing the hardware to behave as if it were in a real vehicle.
- software-defined vehicle (SDV)
- A vehicle whose functions and features are controlled by software and can be changed through updates, rather than fixed at the factory.
- over-the-air (OTA)
- A method of sending software updates to a vehicle wirelessly, similar to a smartphone update.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.