In the era of electric vehicles, Hyundai still has high hopes for hydrogen vehicles
South Korean consumers are not as enthusiastic about hydrogen fuel vehicles as Hyundai Motor hopes, and South Korea has the most hydrogen fuel cell passenger cars in the world.
Bold moves
Since taking office at the end of last year, the chairman of Hyundai Motor Group has taken a series of bold moves. He invested more money in electric vehicles and took the company into a deeper field of robotics.
But in his efforts to transform the company from a traditional car manufacturer to a travel giant, another important job is to embrace hydrogen-based technology. In this regard, the future is still unknown.
The experience of Song Young-jin, a 38-year-old sales manager, shows how difficult it is for Hyundai to succeed in a world that is increasingly adopting battery-powered motors.
In March 2020, Song Yongjin bought a Hyundai Nexo car whose hydrogen fuel cell engine emits only water vapor. Infected by Hyundai’s advertisements, he believes that hydrogen-fueled vehicles are not only suitable for long-distance commuting, but also more environmentally friendly.
But in August, he was tired of having to drive 50 kilometers a week to the nearest hydrogen refueling station, and he wanted to sell it. The double whammy came when he saw with frustration on a used car website that the value of used Nexo fell by about $1,000 a month.
“I like the hydrogen-powered car itself-it’s quiet, it only takes 5 minutes to charge, faster than an electric car,” Song Yongjin said. “But there are few gas stations, and the maintenance cost (for hydrogen tanks and other parts) is huge, which may be why they are so cheap in the used car market. Next time, I will buy an electric one.”
Big bet on hydrogen
As South Korea’s largest automaker, Hyundai is the only global automaker that has made a big bet in the field of hydrogen energy except Toyota Motor of Japan: it pledges to have all its new commercial vehicles-including buses by 2028 And heavy trucks-both will use batteries or hydrogen fuel cells.
Zheng Yixuan said in September that Hyundai Motor’s goal is to launch “a wide range of hydrogen-based mobility solutions” by 2040, covering everything from passenger cars, trains and ships to flying objects.
This makes Hyundai vehicles run counter to most other large automakers in the world. Volkswagen, which is optimistic about electric vehicles, said that by 2050, its global production of cars will be carbon neutral.
Mercedes-Benz manufacturer Daimler promised to sell only electric cars from 2030, while Honda aims to achieve 100% electric car sales by 2040. Like Toyota, Hyundai does not regard electric batteries as the only answer.
Saehoon Kim, the head of the Hyundai Fuel Cell Center, said in a YouTube video released in September, “In order to perfectly achieve net zero emissions, we need electricity and hydrogen. It is a good thing to have two cards in hand.”
Korean consumers are not as enthusiastic about hydrogen vehicles as Hyundai Motor hopes. These vehicles accounted for less than 0.1% of the country’s total sales.
Former Hanwha Investment & Securities analyst Ryu Yeon-wha said that Hyundai Motor has “goed too far and invested too much money in hydrogen cars, and it can’t stop now”. Ryu, who is now a green energy travel consultant, said the automaker seems to underestimate the success of battery-powered electric vehicles.
He said: “Just two years ago, a senior employee of Hyundai Motor told analysts, ‘we don’t make toys like Tesla’s.’”
Advantages of H-cars
Hydrogen-powered cars do have some advantages. They can be charged much faster.
Although their production costs are much higher than electric vehicles, they are generally considered more suitable for commercial use because battery-powered trucks and buses are considered heavier and the charging time is also longer than hydrogen. It takes longer to be able to use a commercial vehicle.
South Korea has the most hydrogen fuel cell passenger vehicles in the world, with approximately 18,500 vehicles sold since 2016.
Huge obstacle
However, the lack of charging infrastructure and high maintenance costs have become a huge obstacle.
From January to September this year, Hyundai Motor sold approximately 6,400 Nexo units in South Korea and exported 875 units. In comparison, the company sold approximately 87,000 electric vehicles worldwide during the same period.
Hyundai Motor Group supports hydrogen energy to play an important role in building a sustainable future and reducing society’s dependence on fossil fuels.
After working at the forefront of fuel cell technology development for 20 years, the use of fuel cell technology will be expanded to be more widely used in vehicles. ”
The South Korean government increased the number of charging stations and helped Hyundai realize the mass production of Nexo.
The government provides buyers with nearly 50% car subsidies, while also providing large subsidies to commercial bus operators and charging station owners. With such support, Hyundai Motor now plans to produce 500,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles annually starting in 2030.
Nevertheless, as of September 30, the country has only 117 hydrogen refueling machines, that is, one for every 146 hydrogen vehicles. In contrast, every two electric vehicles correspond to one electric vehicle charging pile.
Due to public concerns about its safety and high cost, it is difficult to choose the location of the hydrogen refueling station. The local authorities spent about 2.5 million U.S. dollars on a hydrogen refueling station in Seoul.
This hydrogen refueling station has only one hydrogen refueling machine, and a gas station with 4 refueling machines costs about 84,000 U.S. dollars.
Due to the loss of heat and friction, the efficiency of hydrogen-fueled vehicles is also lower than that of electric vehicles.
Hydrogen-fueled vehicles are not yet economical for consumers. Even for Hyundai, this is a loss-making business. The cost of producing a hydrogen-powered car is about 84,000 U.S. dollars, and their selling price is 60,000 U.S. dollars.
In short, South Korea has more hydrogen vehicles on the road than any other country. Nevertheless, the sales of such cars accounted for less than 0.1% of the country’s total car sales.
