Hyundai to offer hydrogen fuel cell versions by 2028

Hyundai Motor Group said on Tuesday it prepares to offer hydrogen fuel cell versions for all its commercial vehicles by 2028 and will reduce the price of fuel cell vehicles to battery electric levels two years later.

The automaker currently has one fuel cell bus and one fuel cell truck, the Xcient Hyundai, on the market. There are 115 buses on the road in South Korea and 45 of the trucks in operation after they were presented in Switzerland last year.

Kia and Hyundai together offer 20 models of commercial vehicles including trucks, buses, and vans. They have sold about 287,000 of them in 2020.

Currently, their other fuel cell vehicle on the market is Hyundai’s Nexo SUV.

The automaker also said it will develop fuel cell automobiles for Kia and its premium Genesis brand, which could be introduced after 2025. It did not specify particular targets for fuel cell versions of passenger vehicle models.

Industry-wide, about 10,000-15,000 fuel cell vehicles are produced annually compared to 4-5 million electric vehicles, the automaker said.

The automaker also said it also prepares to employ hydrogen fuel cell technology in other sectors such as autonomous container transport.