The Hyundai Xcient Fuel Cell truck exhibited during the 3rd China International Import Exhibition (CIIE) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center on November 5, 2020 in Shanghai, China.
Zhang Hengwei | China News Service Getty Images
Hyundai Motor Group plans to develop hydrogen fuel cell versions of all of its commercial vehicle models by 2028, with the firm also wanting to introduce a “next-generation fuel cell system” in 2023.
In an ad, the South Korean automotive giant said its goal was to “achieve a fuel cell vehicle price comparable to that of a battery-powered electric vehicle by 2030.” This ambition applies to both passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
The Seoul-based group has decades of experience in the industry, having developed its first electric vehicle with fuel cells in 1998. More recently, it launched the XCIENT Fuel Cell, a heavy truck, in 2020. An SUV of fuel cells, the NEXO, was launched in 2018.
As for fuel cells, Hyundai said its next-generation system would come in “100-kilowatt and 200-kilowatt” versions with a cost reduction of more than 50%, a total package volume reduced by 30% and a duplicate output power “.
Described by the International Energy Agency as a “versatile energy carrier,” hydrogen has a wide range of applications and can be deployed in sectors such as industry and transportation. Fuel cells harness the chemical energy of hydrogen to generate electricity, which then fuels the vehicle.
While there is a lot of talk about the potential of vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells, there are also a number of hurdles that technology has to overcome to become a conventional option for drivers.
The U.S. government, for example, has cited several challenges. These range from the durability and reliability of fuel cells to the cost of the vehicle. “The current infrastructure to produce and get hydrogen from consumers still cannot support the widespread adoption of FCV,” he adds.
Despite the above, Hyundai is one of the big companies that want to develop offers of hydrogen fuel cells for road transport.
In June, the BMW Group said it had begun testing vehicles that use a hydrogen fuel cell transmission engine. He described the technology of hydrogen fuel cells as “long-term potential to complement internal combustion engines, plug-in hybrid systems and battery-powered electric vehicles.”
The same month, Jaguar Land Rover announced that it was working on the prototype of an electric vehicle with a hydrogen fuel cell.
The company, owned by Tata Motors, said fuel-powered electric vehicles were “complementary to battery-powered electric vehicles … on the journey to net vehicle emissions.”
Other companies that have entered the hydrogen fuel cell market are Toyota and Honda, while smaller companies like Riversimple also work on hydrogen-powered cars.