Hyundai to supply 4,000 fuel cell trucks to China
Hyundai has signed two letters of intent with Chinese companies to supply a total of 4,000 fuel cell trucks to China by 2025. This is the second major order in connection with Hyundai’s H2 truck XCIENT, following the order for 1,600 units from Switzerland.
Reports in the Korean media refer to an official statement by Hyundai. According to this, the potential order from China is divided into two parts of 3,000 and 1,000 hydrogen trucks.
For the previous memorandum of understanding, companies all located in the Yangtze Delta region have joined forces: Shanghai Electric Power Co, Shanghai Sunwise Energy Systems Co and Shanghai Ronghe Electric Technology Financial Leasing Co. Hyundai will not only supply the trio with the aforementioned 3,000 XCIENT units within five years but will also help them build a hydrogen ecosystem from H2 production to charging infrastructure and operation.
Yonhap news agency quotes Cheol Lee, Executive Vice President Hyundai Fuel Cell Business Division said: “We are planning to set up a ‘business cluster’ which covers hydrogen vehicle sales, lease programs, and charging stations as China is one of the hydrogen markets with the most potential.”
The South Korean company signed the second memorandum of understanding for the delivery of 1,000 hydrogen trucks with Advanced Technology & Materials Co. and HBIS Group. Both companies are based in the Beijing area.
Hyundai plans to sell more than 27,000 hydrogen trucks in China by 2030. When presenting their international business strategy for hydrogen trucks two weeks ago, Cheol Lee said, “Currently we are focussing on China’s four major hydrogen spots, in including Jin-jin-ji, the Yangtse River Delta, the province Guangdong and the Provence Sichuan and discussing corporate initiatives such as joint ventures with local partners. Our plan is to achieve an aggregate sales volume of 27,000 units by 2030 based on the three models,” he revealed. To support this new demand, Hyundai Truck and Bus China will provide medium-duty trucks in 2022 and heavy-duty trucks in 2023, following which, Hyundai plans to develop a new heavy-duty hydrogen truck for China.
The Chinese government, for its part, wants to push forward with this technology. Just over a year ago the country announced its goal of one million fuel cell vehicles on China’s roads by 2030. This ambition was then backed up by introducing massive subsidies in some parts of the country.
In addition to China, Hyundai also sees sales potential for its H2 trucks in Europe and the USA. Within ten years, the Group plans to sell a total of 25,000 H2 commercial vehicles in Europe and 12,000 in the USA. Together with the targeted sales mark of 27,000 H2 trucks in China, this results in an export target in the region of 64,000 hydrogen trucks by 2030. Hyundai plans to increase its production capacity accordingly: to 2,000 hydrogen commercial vehicles per year by 2021.
After extensive business development and collaboration with Hydrospider for hydrogen production, Hyundai is now exporting trucks to Switzerland: One month ago the Korean company handed over the first seven units of their fuel cell truck to customers. Before the end of the year, Hyundai wants to have already delivered 50 XCIENT to the Alpine nation, and by 2025, a total of 1,600 H2 trucks are planned for the Swiss market.
Hyundai is also planning to enter the European market in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. Besides the Xcient new semi, Hyundai sees that the 4×2 and 6×2 trucks in development that can cover a significant portion of heavy-duty transport in Europe. Hyundai will form global partnerships with energy to produce and utilise green hydrogen based on wind and hydro-power sources across the region. This will allow more than 25,000 Hyundai hydrogen fuel cell trucks to operate in Europe by 2030.
The XCIENT is powered by a new 190 kW fuel cell drive system using two parallel-connected 95 kW stacks. Seven high-pressure hydrogen tanks provide a storage capacity of almost 32 kg of the volatile gas. The hydrogen fuel cell trucks manage a range of around 400 kilometres per refuelling operation that takes between eight to 20 minutes.
With additional reporting by Carrie Hampel
0 Comments