HYUNDAI Motor Company premiered its new XCIENT Fuel Cell tractor head, the commercialized class 8 6×4 fuel cell electric model, for the North American commercial vehicle (CV) market at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo North America’s largest advanced transportation technology and clean fleet event.
At Hyundai Motor’s press conference, Ken Ramirez, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Commercial Vehicle and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Business at Hyundai Motor, emphasized the importance of achieving carbon neutrality to realize the company’s vision of ‘Progress for Humanity.’ He spoke of the company’s strong commitment to hydrogen mobility and shared its ambition to foster the development of a clean hydrogen ecosystem.
“We firmly believe that hydrogen is one of the most powerful and pragmatic solutions for achieving our vision of ‘Progress for Humanity’ with emission-free mobility as a fundamental pillar for a sustainable society,” said Ramirez.
Mark Freymueller, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial Vehicle Business Innovation at Hyundai Motor, also revealed the company’s plan for XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks, underlining the company’s local partnerships to form a solid hydrogen value chain as building blocks toward accelerating the deployment of clean fleets in the U.S.
“For years, we have been initiating hydrogen value chains in various regions. Together with our partners, we are making hydrogen mobility a viable solution for our customers. We go beyond the truck itself to include areas such as hydrogen refueling and truck maintenance,” said Freymueller.
The company aims to foster partnerships and future businesses to provide fleet operation solutions for hydrogen truck customers and expand the hydrogen value chain in the U.S., using its initial business entry as a bridgehead.
To that end, Hyundai Motor shared its outlook for an eco-friendly CV business incubation project at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), the dedicated electric vehicle factory being built in Georgia. The project is centered on the development of a hydrogen mobility value chain. HMGMA will be equipped with cutting-edge technologies that can produce up to 300,000 EVs annually and an innovative production platform, developed and demonstrated by the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS). Through the project, the Metaplant will incorporate an eco-friendly logistics system integrating hydrogen fuel cell trucks and a complete hydrogen value chain.
Meanwhile, Martin Zeilinger, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai Motor’s Commercial Vehicle Development, introduced the commercial model of the XCIENT Fuel Cell tractor, highlighting its technology and proven record for capability and reliability.
First launched in 2020, XCIENT Fuel Cell has been deployed in five countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Korea and New Zealand, and has successfully accumulated over 4 million miles so far. It is the only heavy-duty fuel cell electric model with a proven record of real-world application and technological reliability. The model shown at the event is the 6×4 tractor equipped with two 90 kW hydrogen fuel cell systems (total 180 kW power) and a 350 kW e-motor. Its gross combination weight is a maximum 82,000 lbs and offers a driving range of over 450 miles per charge even when fully loaded.
Zeilinger also participated in the industry panel discussion, ‘Staying Ahead of the Curve: Emerging Vehicle Availability,’ which covered fleet procurement, fuel cell storage systems, leading technologies for next-generation fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and timing of commercialization. He highlighted how Hyundai Motor is a pioneer in fuel cell technologies with field-proven products and services deployed worldwide.
“Hyundai has been focusing on hydrogen for over 20 years,” Zeilinger said. “Our advanced fuel cell technology already is in use through various applications and especially in the commercial vehicle sector, showing its powerful performance and reliability.”
Hyundai Motor views hydrogen as the clean energy solution for CVs, including energy-intensive heavy-duty trucking, due to their various advantages in production, transportation, distribution and storage. Hydrogen is an energy carrier with high density that allows FCEVs to provide sustained energy output suitable for long-haul driving and carrying heavy loads. FCEVs enhance work and infrastructure efficiency compared to battery electric vehicles (BEV) by minimizing downtime with quicker refueling.
With the U.S. government’s significant support and more players entering the hydrogen market, Hyundai Motor is confident that the total cost of ownership for FCEVs will drop considerably, and that climate change and supply chain issues will accelerate the transition to clean energy sources.
