Turns out reports of the demise of Hyundai’s hydrogen vehicle development were greatly exaggerated.
Hyundai is not shutting down its hydrogen-fueled FCEV program, the company affirmed early January, contrary to prior reports saying otherwise. The rumours started when Korea’s Chosun Libo opined that, since the company’s internal combustion engine laboratory (which may actually be shut down, though Hyundai Motor America Senior Group Manager Michael Stewart says this isn’t the case) is being shuttered, so too would Hyundai’s hydrogen research also be terminated, explains Autoevolution.
The automaker has since vigorously denied, in a statement to Driving.ca , that it is dumping its FCEVs and that it continues to develop hydrogen-powered luxury vehicles under its Genesis banner: “ Our fuel cell division was recently split in two and expanded: The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Development Center is in charge of technology development, and the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Business Center will further strengthen business strategies and operations,” it said.
“With the organizational expansion and reformation, Hyundai Motor Group is in the process of fine-tuning the direction and timing of R&D regarding hydrogen fuel cells, but changes in development timing does not mean we are stopping the development of new vehicles.”
Hyundai also has committed to FCEVs for long-haul truck and other commercial vehicles. According to Sae Hoon Kim, the attraction of hydrogen power for commercial vehicles is as simple as the difference between milk and cheese. Nomads “preserve milk as cheese left over from the summer,” explains the executive vice-president and head of Hyundai’s fuel cell group, so that they can use it over the winter as a “milk substitute.”
“Hydrogen will play a similar role to cheese,” he said during a presentation at an online conference, because it will “convert excess electricity generated from clean sources — such as wind or solar power — into [energy-dense] hydrogen that can be stored in huge quantities.”
According to the company’s Vision 2040 program, all its commercial vehicles will be available with a hydrogen-fuel powertrain by 2028; its FCEV will have price parity with EVs by 2030 ; and it plans to engineer its fuel cell systems for all types of mobility and will apply the same technology to other aspects of society including homes, buildings and powerplants in its effort to attain net-zero carbon emissions.
Extracted from Driving