Global leading tire company Hankook Tire & Technology (Hankook Tire) announced the opening of Hankook Technoring, a new proving ground built in Taean, South Korea. Being the largest proving ground in Asia, it will serve as state-of-the-art R&D facilities for Hankook’s most advanced products to come.

Hankook Technoring is covering 1.26 million square meters. It is as large as 125 soccer fields combined, featuring the longest test track in Asia. Comprising 13 testing tracks, the new proving ground enables rigorous testing of Hankook’s most advanced products including electric vehicle and supercar tires. The test tracks are designed to accommodate all types of vehicles from supercars to trucks and buses, and testing capabilities include high-speed driving test at up to 250km/h.

Hankook Tires is the official world's leading tire supplier for major global automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen and Tesla. However, Hankook Technoring will play a pivotal role in providing optimal solutions to keep pace with the tremendous and dramatic development in the automotive industry in the coming years, which will witness an expansion of self-driving cars.

The proving ground is also equipped with a control tower, office buildings, workshops, fueling stations, and electric vehicle charging stations. The 37.1-meter-high control tower manages test progress through integrated monitoring systems to consider various test surface and climate conditions.

“Tires, being the only media in a vehicle that makes contact with the road surface, is the key for maximizing vehicle performance, providing safety, satisfying fuel efficiency, and driving comfort. This is why we at Hankook recognize the need for various testing grounds to ensure best product quality in all conditions,” says Hyunbum Cho, Chairman and CEO of Hankook & Company.

In this regard, Mr. Marwan Bin-Shihoun, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bin-Shihon Group, Hankook Tire exclusive distributor, said: “Through the completion of the Hankook Technoring, Hankook Tire has established a complete R&D infrastructure for further advancing its innovation capabilities. This infrastructure is expected to create synergy with Hankook’s existing facilities, which include Hankook Technoplex, the global headquarters as well as a control tower for designing innovative products and building a mid-and-long-term strategy.