Kia uses fungus root, ocean trash in eco-friendly EV interiors

YEOJU, South Korea — Kia's upcoming line of affordable electric vehicles will have interiors that are funky and even — quite literally — fungal.

In a bid to go environment-friendly, Kia designers have high hopes for incorporating mycelium, the white hairlike gunk of mushroom root, into vehicle interiors. The substance can be grown and molded into all manner of shapes and sizes to create materials for furnishing tomorrow's EV cockpits.

Mushroom root is just one of the out-of-the-box ideas Kia Corp. has for spicing up its vehicle interiors.

The South Korean automaker displayed the new approach this month at its EV Day presentation, where executives unveiled three new all-electric vehicles. The EV5 crossover and concept versions of a smaller EV3 crossover and EV4 sedan all showcased innovative cabins.

Organic dies, recycled cotton, paneling made from hemp and flax fiber, 3D knitted seats and, of course, mycelium mushroom root are all part of Kia's new nature-embracing strategy. Down the road, the automaker also plans to use plastic from recycled ocean trash.

The unusual materials augment new design features meant to modernize Kia's cabins for the EV era. Features include hideaway buttons, sliding console tables, mood lighting, slim seating, unique rotating pin-style air vents and a wide horizontal dashboard layout for an open and airy ambiance.

Kia's focus on earth-easy interiors kicks off with the EV9 crossover, which goes on sale in the U.S. by the end of this year. The EV9 will introduce what the company calls its 10 must-have materials for a greener, plant-based, leather-free ride.

The electric crossover makes extensive use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate and bioplastics, even incorporating discarded fishing nets to create some of its fabrics and carpets.

"We've said we're not going to use leather anymore," Kia design director Karim Habib said. "The replacement, in my view, is fabric. We're not trying to achieve an opulent, plush luxury. We're trying to be more modern."

Kia intends to make eco-conscious material choices core to its brand identity, and the EVs unveiled this month here outside Seoul preview its next steps.

The EV3 and EV4 use natural fibers in place of carbon-based synthetic ones to enable lighter, slimmer seating, while some materials in the seats and consoles are derived from flax fiber. Lightweight, durable hemp is used to make the console table, which offers a flat working surface that slides forward and back for access in the front seats and the rear.

The inside of the console table was grown, rather than manufactured, Kia notes. That's because it is made of mycelium mushroom root, which combines strength with a soft-touch finish.

Mycelium appears in the cushion covers of the EV4's rear seat as well.

Kia's designers also incorporated 3D knit technology, which is used for athletic shirts and running shoes, in the seat materials to achieve a distinct wavy texture while reducing the need for stitching and joins. That, in turn, achieves zero waste material.

The earth-toned "sandy terracotta" interior of the EV4 is derived from organic pigments found in madder root and walnut shell.

Down the road, Kia hopes to recycle ocean trash into such items as key fobs and carpets. The automaker has partnered with The Ocean Cleanup of the Netherlands to gather plastic from various ocean garbage patches, where currents collect tons of refuse.

Last summer, Kia received 55 tons of plastic from the Pacific Ocean's great garbage patch. The company is assessing how it can be recycled and used in vehicles. Its goal is to repurpose the material in components starting in 2026, helping offset the 440 pounds of plastic currently used in the average Kia vehicle.

There are challenges. The plastic recovered and recycled from ocean trash is considerably more expensive than even traditional recycled plastic. And the quality varies wildly.

Furthermore, the environmental impact will be small, almost imperceptible, at least at first. Kia's pilot program is working with those 55 tons of sea trash from the Pacific. But by The Ocean Cleanup's own reckoning, about 1.1 million tons of new plastic trash goes into the world's oceans every year.