Hyundai's fuel cell trucks to hit roads in Europe

H2Energy Chairman Rolf Huber, second from left, speaks during a press conference at the IAA Commercial Vehicles 2018 in Hanover, Germany, Wednesday. Hyundai Motor signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swiss hydrogen company that day to provide 1,000 heavy-duty fuel cell electric trucks from 2019 to 2023. From left are Mike Ziegler, director of commercial vehicle R&D at Hyundai Motor; Huber; Lee In-cheol, Hyundai Motor's executive vice president and head of commercial vehicle division; and Mark Freymueller, commercial vehicle director at Hyundai Motor. / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor

By Park Jae-hyuk

Hyundai Motor will start providing 1,000 heavy-duty fuel cell electric trucks on the European market next year, the automaker said Thursday.

During the IAA Commercial Vehicles 2018 in Hanover, Germany, Wednesday, the company and a Swiss hydrogen company named H2Energy signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the provision of 1,000 heavy-duty fuel cell electric trucks and an adequate supply chain for renewable hydrogen from 2019 to 2023.

“We are yet again advancing the field of fuel cell technology in the automotive industry with today's announcement of our ambition to commercialize the fuel cell electric truck for the first time in the world,” said Lee In-cheol, Hyundai Motor's executive vice president and head of commercial vehicle division.

“We will continue to seek opportunities for expanding into other markets by carefully monitoring multiple factors such as fueling infrastructure and governmental policies.”

Hyundai said the fuel cell electric truck is being developed according to European regulations.

According to the automotive company, the truck features a new 190 kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell system with two fuel cell systems connected in parallel, which is also a feature of the NEXO fuel cell SUV.

Hyundai aims to have the truck travel up to 400 kilometers with a single fueling. For this, it will install eight large hydrogen tanks in the truck's utilizing areas such as between the cabin and the rigid body.

H2Energy Chairman Rolf Huber said: “A sustainable hydrogen economy needs a designated ecosystem for hydrogen. This is why our collaboration between Hyundai Motor, H2 Energy, the Swiss H2 Association, and the key electricity producer Alpiq in Switzerland is strategic and makes a lot of sense.”

H2Energy specializes in production and supply of renewable hydrogen in Switzerland, with business subsidiaries in Germany, Norway and Austria.

It plans to make Hyundai's fuel cell electric trucks available to its Swiss customers starting with the dedicated members of the Swiss H2 Association, which includes several refueling-station operators, retailers and other customers focusing on eco-friendly innovative solutions for logistics and goods distribution.