Hyundai built a mobile seed bombing station into the new Ioniq 9 and it’s reforesting wildfire zones

The Ioniq 9 was already one of Hyundai’s most futuristic EVs – now it’s branching out in a way no one saw coming.

The company’s taken an electric SUV and made it the star of a feel-good, planet-healing story.

It’s not just built to drive – it’s built to bring forests back to life.

And in a world scorched by wildfires, it’s quietly planting hope, one seed bomb at a time.

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Hyundai turns the Ioniq 9 into a mobile forest starter kit

Hyundai calls it the Seed Ball Drone Station – and it’s bombing barren land back into bloom.

This isn’t a futuristic mock-up or design study. It’s a real, working version of the Ioniq 9, custom-built to help restore areas devastated by wildfire.

Inside, the third-row seats have been folded away to make room for a drone command setup.

The trunk holds a launch and landing pad that folds out, and the car’s battery powers the drones directly.

These drones aren’t armed with cameras or weapons – they’re packed with seed balls. Little clay spheres filled with soil and plant seeds that burst open and bloom when they hit the ground. 

The drones scatter them across fire-ravaged zones too remote or dangerous for people to reach. Over time, rain and sun do their work, and the seeds begin to sprout.

Hyundai created the Seed Ball Drone Station as part of its Ioniq Forest project – a global sustainability initiative already active in 13 countries, including the United States, aimed at reforesting burn zones around the world.

Rather than rely solely on manual planting, the company wanted a smarter, faster solution that could access rugged, remote areas safely. 

The result is this modified Ioniq 9 – a literal vehicle for regrowth.

It’s not for sale, and it’s not part of the normal lineup. But it is rolling out into the wild with one job: to bring green back where it’s been blacked out.

This isn’t a one-off – it’s part of Hyundai’s bigger eco mission

We’ve all heard the EV sales pitch: better for the planet, less harmful than gas-guzzlers, and good for your conscience. 

Hyundai is flipping that script.

This isn’t just about being less bad – it’s about doing good.

The Ioniq 9 joins its smaller cousin, the Ioniq 5, in Hyundai’s growing environmental fleet. 

That model has already been in the field since 2023 as a Monitoring Drone Station, collecting wildfire data for the Korean government. 

Now, with the Ioniq 9 handling reforestation, Hyundai is turning its EVs into climate recovery tools.

This is hardware that once mapped battlefields, now being used to rebuild forests. 

The Hyundai Ioniq 9 Seed Ball Drone Station isn’t about going faster or flashier. It’s about going greener, one airborne wildflower bomb at a time.

And in a world that’s seen more than its share of destruction, this might be the sweetest kind of revenge: turning scorched earth into something blooming and bright.

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