As the world slowly came to grips with the effects of climate change – and the outsized contributions to them by passenger vehicles – many came to the conclusion that zero-emission cars and trucks would become necessary in coming decades.
What form those cars would take, however, split those in the industry: some favored fully battery-powered vehicles, which could use existing electricity sources but would need to be recharged, while others advocated for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which could be filled up just as easily as gas-powered ones – provided you could find hydrogen fuel nearby.
Automakers in Japan and Korea sided with hydrogen and spent significant capital developing fuel cell cars and building out those nations’ hydrogen fuel infrastructure.
Hyundai was the first to roll out a production vehicle powered by hydrogen in 2013, and its head of fuel cell technology said earlier this summer the company hopes to nearly double its previous fuel cell vehicle output this year alone – about 13,000 vehicles.
But the Korean automaker has also taken notice of how rival automakers – namely Tesla – quickly improved battery-electric vehicles to the point that they can travel hundreds of miles between charges at a relatively manageable price tag. And it’s now hoping to make a big dent in the market.
Hyundai executives held meetings with Korean electronics and battery giants Samsung, LG, and SK in recent weeks, and Reuters reports that an internal newsletter outlined plans for new production lines for Hyundai electric vehicles that would be rolled out in 2022 and again in 2024.
Those lines would help the company sell 1 million electric vehicles per year and capture 10% of the global EV market by 2025 – goals set by Hyundai Motor Group’s chairman earlier this month.
Saehoon Kim, the head of Hyundai’s fuel cell operations, conceded in a June interview with Bloomberg that the cost of ownership isn’t close between hydrogen and battery-powered cars. But he predicted the day of a commercially viable fuel cell vehicle is coming; coincidentally, the company’s target is 2025.
