Hyundai Motor signs MOU with French gas company

President Park Geun-hye sits in the driver seat of a Tucson ix35 fuel cell electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) during her visit to the French gas company Air Liquide’s research center in Grenoble, France, Saturday. The SUV is used as a taxi by French startup electric taxi company STEP. / Yonhap

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Hyundai Motor has agreed to work with global industrial gas company Air Liquide on strengthening cooperation to increase sales of fuel-cell electric vehicles and expand hydrogen infrastructure for the global market.

Air Liquide is considered to have the world’s top expertise in hydrogen production and hydrogen plant construction and operation. Hyundai, the world’s fifth-largest automaker, feels strongly that it will continue leading the next generation eco-friendly auto market not only with electric vehicles (EVs) but with fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

According to a Hyundai Motor official, Sunday, Hyundai Motor President Chung Jin-haeng, and head of Hyundai’s Eco Technology Center, Senior Vice President Lee Ki-sang, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Air Liquide Chairman Benoit Potier and President Pierre-Etienne Franc at Air Liquide’s research center in Grenoble, France, Saturday.

"We expect significant synergy from the partnership with Air Liquide, which is globally competitive in hydrogen energy, while we have top-notch technology demonstrated by the world’s first commercial production of fuel-cell electric vehicles,” a Hyundai official said.

“We will continue to contribute to the wider use of fuel-cell electric vehicles globally.’’

Under the deal, the two companies agreed to strengthen cooperation to invigorate the fuel-cell electric vehicle market, utilizing hydrogen as clean renewable energy and developing business models related to hydrogen refueling stations.

Air Liquide has partnered Korea’s largest automaker for a long time and installed the nation’s first international-standard hydrogen refueling station at Hyundai Motor Group’s Environmental Technology Laboratory earlier this year.

Hyundai Motor is also taking part in the hydrogen electric taxi project, Hydrogen Powered Electric (HYPE), in Paris. The automaker has provided five Tucson FCEVs to STEP, the French start-up electric vehicle taxi company. Air Liquide is building hydrogen infrastructure in Paris, including hydrogen refueling stations.

Fuel-cell vehicles are considered the future of eco-friendly vehicles, surpassing hybrids and electric vehicles because they are 100 percent pollution free, emitting only water.

Hyundai Motor started developing hydrogen electric vehicles in 1998 and introduced the world’s first commercial fuel-cell electric vehicle in 2013.

The Tucson FCEV has a 100-kilowatt fuel-cell stack, 100-kilowatt electric motor, 24-kilowatt high-voltage battery and a hydrogen storage tank (700 bars). The Tucson FCEV can reach 100 kilometers per hour in 12.5 seconds, which compares favorably with vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. With a single charge of only three to 10 minutes, the Tucson FCEV can be driven up to 415 kilometers.

Its power train has been recognized for its advanced technology and was selected as one of the world’s 10 best engines in 2015, a first for a fuel-cell electric vehicle.