Hyundai Motor Group presents its vision to popularise hydrogen by 2040 at Hydrogen Wave forum.

Carbon neutrality solution via an energy paradigm shift.

The vision for Hyundai Motor Group is that by 2040 hydrogen energy will be used not only for transportation but will also be applied to wider areas of industries and sectors. The Group aims to make hydrogen energy available to ‘Everyone, Everything and Everywhere’

During Hydrogen Wave, the Group is sharing its plans to proactively respond to climate change through hydrogen solutions, starting with the commercial vehicle sector, which emits larger amounts of CO2 and requires longer drive ranges’ compared with the passenger vehicle sector. As a result of such findings, the Group will launch all-new commercial vehicles such as buses and heavy-duty trucks for the global market as fuel cell electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles. By 2028, the company expects to become the first global automaker to apply its fuel cell system to all commercial vehicle models.

The Group has already started mass-producing a greatly improved version of the current XCIENT Fuel Cell, the world’s first mass produced fuel cell heavy-duty truck. It is also developing a tractor based on the XCIENT Fuel Cell that will be released in 2023. During Hydrogen Wave, the Group also unveiled the ‘Trailer Drone’ concept, a hydrogen-powered container transportation system capable of operating fully autonomously, with a double e-Bogie configuration.

Through the development of hydrogen commercial vehicles, the Group will promote the complete transition of Korea’s public transportation and logistics systems to hydrogen-based solutions - with a view to setting the benchmark for the world.

In addition, the Group will fully re-energise global commercial vehicle markets including Europe - which at present consists of 400,000 new units a year - through its advanced next-generation fuel cell technologies. The Group will develop a 5- to 7-meter fuel cell PBV (Purpose Built Vehicle) to target the global light commercial vehicle market projected for seven million unit sales per year by 2030. This will be in part undertaken by an expansion in its business capabilities and applying autonomous driving and robotics to the commercial vehicle sector.

Fuel cell systems are not only being used commercially for vehicles such as the NEXO SUV, Elec City Bus and XCIENT Fuel Cell truck, but also have the potential for deployment across diverse applications by 2040, including high-performance vehicles, urban air mobility, robots, aircrafts and large ships. As a result of such capabilities, the Group will expand the scope of fuel cell systems and technologies to all areas of the energy sector, including the provision of electricity and heating to buildings, urban energy sources and power plants.

To achieve this, the Group is planning to introduce a new generation fuel cell system in 2023 that realises a reduced price and volume with significantly improved durability and output. Through ongoing R&D gains, engineering teams for the Group have been able to reduce fuel cell costs drastically over the last 20 years. By ensuring price competitiveness, the Group’s goal is to achieve a fuel cell vehicle price point comparable to a battery electric vehicle by 2030.

The Group will realise economies of scale of hydrogen production by continuous technological innovation of fuel cell systems as well as close collaboration with other organisations and governments across diverse business areas.

Next-generation fuel cell systems.

It’s been an ongoing process for many years for the Group to strive to reduce the cost of fuel cell systems for mass application. In this process of continuous improvement, the Group has made great leaps in R&D and is presenting the results for the world to see.

During Hydrogen Wave, the Group presented a series of new fuel cell systems including a new prototype of its third-generation fuel cell stack - a higher-powered, efficiently packaged successor to the NEXO system - that is planned for market introduction in 2023.

Third-generation fuel cell system.

For the second-generation fuel cell stack launched in 2018, the company achieved 5,000 hours and 160,000 kilometers of usage, which is similar to the warranty of an ICE vehicle. For the third-generation fuel cell development, the goal is to improve durability by 50-100 percent. High durability stacks for commercial vehicles will achieve 500,000 kilometers of drive range. Furthermore, the price of the third-generation fuel cell stack will be dramatically reduced - with projections being upwards of more than 50 percent - which will be the key factor to achieving cost parity of FCEVs with BEVs by 2030.

With flexibility and modularity at its core, the third-generation system can also be applied in various application forms. A new ‘Power Unit Module’ can offer a range of outputs from 500kW to 1MW by stacking 100kW modular units, ideal for use as an emergency power system for large ships or IT companies.

Also revealed at the event is an innovative fuel cell ‘Full-Flat System’ that lowers stack height to 25cm, allowing it to be used for various applications such as PBVs, MPVs, buses and trams by mounting the system to either the upper or lower body of the vehicle.

The table below outlines all mobility and fuel cell systems presented in today’s Hydrogen Wave online global forum: