Hyundai Motor Group, which comprises Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp, plans to convert all of its commercial vehicles to hydrogen fuel cell-powered versions by 2028. The company said Tuesday that it also plans to gradually reduce the prices of those vehicles to compete with their battery electric counterparts.
The company currently has one fuel cell-powered heavy-duty truck, called the Hyundai Xceint, available on the market. There are about 45 units of the Xcient being used in Switzerland. The company started to sell the trucks in the country last year.
Hyundai Motor Group also has a fuel cell bus under its Hyundai brand. There are about 115 hydrogen-powered buses currently being used in South Korea. Hyundai also has a fuel cell sports utility vehicle, called the Hyundai Nexo.
Kia and Hyundai currently offer 20 fossil fuel-powered commercial vehicle models, which include buses, vans, and semi-trucks. The two South Korean carmakers sold a combined 287,000 units of their commercial vehicles last year.
The group also announced plans of converting some of its consumer vehicles to hydrogen fuel cells in the coming years. This includes some models in Hyundai's premium Genesis brand. The company did not mention any specific passenger vehicle models but it did say that new hydrogen fuel cell Genesis cars could be launched sometime after 2025.
The company's plans are in contrast with the transitions made by other carmakers, which mostly have shifted to battery-electric powertrains. Hydrogen technology is still considered to be relatively niche, making Hyundai Motor Group's plans all the more ambitious.
Some car manufacturers have experimented with hydrogen fuel cell technologies but most have opted to go with battery-electric systems given their popularity and wider adoption.
Unlike electric vehicles, which have relatively easy access to "fuel" sources, the infrastructure for hydrogen fuel cells is still mostly non-existent. While hydrogen fuel cells are far cleaner than other new energy mobility technologies, concerns about high costs, the size of fuel cell systems, the lack of refueling stations, and the risk of hydrogen explosions, have limited its widespread adoption.
Globally, about 4 to 5 million electric vehicles are produced each year, while only about 10,000 to 15,000 fuel cell vehicles are produced.
