Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell truck hits Europe

Hyundai has delivered initial examples of the world's first mass produced and commercially available hydrogen fuel cell truck, the Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell.

Delivered today (Wednesday, October 7) in Lucerne, Switzerland, the seven 4x2 rigid trucks will now be pressed into service by seven Swiss customers, marking the launch of Hyundai's commercial vehicle division in Europe.

And it's just the beginning, with Hyundai also detailing extensive plans for its hydrogen trucks in the US and China, with other markets and more models to follow.

The Korean heavyweight says it plans to build 50 XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks by the end of 2020 and will supply 1600 to Europe by 2025.

"We are the first automaker to commercialise a hydrogen-powered truck with cutting-edge fuel-cell technology," said In Cheol Lee, Executive Vice President, Hyundai Commercial Vehicles, at an online international press conference marking the milestone.

"This is not a demo project with limited scope, this is a real commercialisation with daily operation of a regular fleet."

The Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell is powered by two examples of the 95kW fuel cell stack found in brand's NEXO passenger car, along with a 72kWh battery. The arrangement drives a 350kW/3400Nm Siemens electric motor/inverter mated to a six-speed Allison transmission.

The truck has a GVM (Gross Vehicle Mass) of 19,000kg and a GCM (Gross Combination Mass) of 36,000kg, while Hyundai says its seven hydrogen tanks, which collectively hold 32kg of hydrogen, deliver a range of around 400 kilometres. Refuelling is said to take around 15 minutes.

Compared to a battery-electric truck, Hyundai says hydrogen is ideally suited to commercial vehicle applications, having a refuelling time similar to that of diesel trucks but without the payload sacrifice incurred by heavy banks of batteries.

Hyundai expects to have over 25,000 of its hydrogen fuel cell trucks operating in Europe by 2030, with the 4x2 rigid XCIENT to soon be joined by 6x2 rigid and 4x2 prime mover models.

The company also revealed it's working on a next-generation hydrogen truck platform, to be introduced around 2024. Powered by two 200kW fuel cell systems, Hyundai says it will have a GCM of 46 tonnes and a range of up to 1000 kilometres.

That next platform will also form the basis of a US-specific 6x4 prime mover, although it's not yet known if it will be based on the HDC-6 Neptune concept truck unveiled late last year. In any case, Hyundai will spearhead its US efforts with cab-over-engine fuel cell models from 2021, the company forecasting deliveries of 12,000 trucks in the US by 2030.

And the firm also has its eyes on China, where it hopes to achieve aggregate sales of 27,000 fuel cell trucks by 2030.

For Australia, however, Hyundai's hydrogen roadmap is less clear.

"In Australia we don't have a right-hand-drive FCEV truck yet, but the next generation will be introduced in 2024 – at that time we will have RHD for Australia and the UK," said Mr Lee, adding that Australia could potentially see the Hyundai XCIENT here sooner in niche left-hand drive applications, such as refuse collection.

Also still to be clarified are details regarding the roll-out of a dealer network to support these hydrogen trucks in those nations where no such Hyundai commercial vehicle network presently exists.

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Hyundai began researching hydrogen as a fuel source in 1998 and has already released several FCEV passenger cars in select markets.

But it believes commercial transport will drive the necessary growth of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure around the world, which in turn will drive growth in hydrogen-powered passenger cars.

"Switzerland shows the advantage of starting this business with commercial vehicles because we have a business case with just 10 trucks for one refuelling station, so this 'chicken and egg' problem will dissolve," says Maik Zieglar, Hyundai's Vice President, Global New Business Development.

In contrast, the company says it could take the equivalent of around 700 passenger cars to make the same station economically viable, due to passenger cars' lower and less consistent fuel needs.

Meanwhile Hyundai believes cost parity between FCEV trucks and diesel trucks will occur globally by 2030, but will occur sooner in some regions with the support of government incentives. Costs will also fall as the hydrogen vehicle industry scales up, Hyundai says.

Hyundai is currently exploring numerous partnerships to promote hydrogen mobility around the world. In Switzerland it has created a joint venture, Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, with Swiss firm H2 Energy, which in turn has its own hydrogen mobility joint venture called Hydrospider.

Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility leases the trucks to customers on a pay-per-use basis, so there's no large initial investment required on the customer's part. Hyundai hopes to roll out similar frameworks in other European nations shortly, while tailoring its business case to meet each region's specific needs and regulatory environment.

Hyundai's entry to Europe represents a major step in the company's global push towards a 'hydrogen society', where it plans to be heavily involved – either directly or through partners – in virtually all aspects of the 'hydrogen value chain'.

That spans everything from R&D to hydrogen production, refuelling infrastructure, hydrogen-powered transport and stationary power generation, with the company to invest a staggering $A9 billion in hydrogen business by 2025.

The push for hydrogen as a key element in decarbonising our world is accelerating, with many nations now investing heavily in a hydrogen future.

As in passenger cars, truck makers are jostling for position as the transition to low or zero-emission transport gains pace. Daimler Trucks, for example, recently revealed its GenH2 hydrogen concept truck, and has formed hydrogen R&D partnerships with Volvo Group and Rolls-Royce.

But according to Dr Lee, it will be Hyundai at the forefront for hydrogen.

"Starting with this first meaningful step today, Hyundai Motor will take the lead in making hydrogen fuel cell trucks available faster and in more places and accelerate the arrival of the global hydrogen society," he said.

"Today marks the beginning of a new future that Hyundai's XCIENT Fuel Cell will help create."