Hyundai's hydrogen fuel cell electric truck technology is celebrating a historic milestone: the test fleet on Swiss roads has now achieved a landmark milestone that takes this technology closer to technical and commercial viability. Hydrogen is an indisputable component of the transportation scene for Hyundai in the coming decades. As a result, in addition to producing battery-powered electric vehicles, it is also developing hydrogen fuel cell technology. Although the Hyundai Nexo is one of the vehicles that use it, trucks get the most attention. The Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell, the world's first mass-produced heavy-duty hydrogen vehicle, has reached a historic moment.
Swiss business operators testing Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell heavy-duty electric trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells can lease them through H2 Energy, a firm founded last year to encourage and promote hydrogen technology. These customers pay for the trucks on a pay-per-use basis, which implies there is no upfront expenditure to be amortized.
In 2020, the Hyundai provided 47 locally emission-free, hydrogen-powered commercial trucks to 23 Swiss firms for distribution, logistics, and food-to-supermarket transit. In the last two years, this fleet has gone five million kilometers.
The Hyundai trucks placed in the hands of these organizations are outfitted with a 180 kW hydrogen fuel cell system comprised of two 90 kW dual batteries. The 350 kW (469 hp) electric motor produces a maximum torque of 2,237 Nm. The system includes seven huge hydrogen tanks with a combined fuel storage capacity of approximately 31 kg. The three intermediate batteries, which serve as an energy buffer between the cell's electrical generation and its consumption in the motor, have a capacity of 72 kWh.
When used in real-world situations, Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell heavy electric trucks have a range of 400 kilometers per hydrogen refueling. Refueling the hydrogen tanks takes between 8 and 20 minutes, depending on the outside ambient temperature. Each system has been adjusted to ensure that fuel efficiency meets the needs of the commercial fleet of each customer.
"Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell is the world's first heavy-duty fuel cell truck with five million total driving kilometers in our real-world customer fleet," said Mark Freymueller, senior vice president and chief business innovation officer of XCIENT Fuel Cell. "The knowledge we gathered and the milestone we reached in Switzerland will provide valuable insights to many countries planning to transition to a sustainable hydrogen society. We will develop our business throughout Europe based on the success of this real-world trial in Switzerland."
In Switzerland, the 47 Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell heavy electric trucks set a new record by traveling more than five million kilometers in two years in the fleets of the 23 commercial operators. The Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell heavy electric trucks were used in distribution, logistics, and food-to-supermarket shipping.
