Hyundai's Singapore facility isn't your average car plant. The Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre Singapore (HMGICS) opened in Jurong West in 2023, spans roughly 87,000sqm and can churn out up to 30,000 electric vehicles a year. The surprising part: it runs free 90-minute guided tours called Hyundai Discovery Tours, and you don't need to be a petrolhead to enjoy them.

Booking is done online via the Hyundai Discovery Tour website. Slots go quickly, but new ones are released 30 days ahead at 10am daily, so it's worth setting a reminder.

The tour packs in a lot. You start at the vertical smart farms — two of them, run round the clock by robots as a showcase for how land-scarce Singapore can grow food. At Smart Farm I, in the main lobby, you operate a robot arm to plant your own seeds. Smart Farm II, on the third floor, grows nine types of greens that feed both the tasting lounge and Na Oh, the in-house Korean restaurant that runs a proper farm-to-table menu. Each visitor also harvests one bunch of greens to take home in a paper bag.

Next comes the tech. A VR experience lets you assemble a Hyundai IONIQ using motion gestures to control a virtual robot arm, and you'll walk past the real Smart Factory floor, where four-legged robots work alongside staff wearing wearable robotic exoskeletons.

The finale is the Skytrack Experience: a passenger joyride in Hyundai's latest vehicles on a 620m rooftop driving track — the same circuit used to test every car built at the plant. Banked sections hit angles of up to 36.8° and speeds reach 83km/h, which is genuinely quick for a lap around a roof.

Getting there takes a bit of effort since it's out west. The nearest bus stop, Opp Blk 216b (ID 21169), is a 14-minute walk away, served by buses 157 and 185 (157 runs from Boon Lay interchange). Drivers can park in the basement or outdoor car park, starting at $2.71 for the first hour in the day, and $4.04 per three hours overnight.

It's a rare thing: a free, genuinely hands-on look inside an EV factory, complete with vegetables, robots and a rooftop thrill ride. Great for families, a quirky date, or anyone hunting for something different to do on a weekend in Singapore.

Thanks to The Smart Local for the original story.