Hyundai Motor Company has unveiled its new XCIENT Fuel Cell prime mover for the North American commercial vehicle (CV) market.
Hyundai today premiered the XCIENT Fuel Cell prime mover at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in Anaheim, California.
First launched in 2020, XCIENT Fuel Cell has been deployed in five countries and has accumulated over 6.4 million kilometres so far.
The model shown at the event is the 6×4 prime mover equipped with two 90kW hydrogen fuel cell systems and a 350kW e-motor.
Its Gross Combination Weight (GCW) is a maximum 30,194kgs and offers a driving range of over 724km per change, even when fully loaded.
At Hyundai’s press conference, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Commercial Vehicle and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Business, Ken Ramirez, emphasised the importance of achieving carbon neutrality to realise the company’s vision of ‘Progress for Humanity’.
“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,” he said.
“Our hydrogen fuel cell technology has pioneered the industry, with a real-world proven track record of its efficiency and durability.
“We are leveraging these merits to further transform transportation with hydrogen energy for a broad range of mobility applications, including commercial vehicles, marine vessels and even air mobility.”
According to Ramirez, Hyundai is now looking beyond mobility toward an integrated hydrogen ecosystem, from production of hydrogen to its storage, transport and delivery.
“Hyundai is uniquely positioned to cover all aspects and deliver a seamless solution across the value chain,” he said.
Also at the press conference, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial Vehicle Business Innovation, Mark Freymueller, revealed the company’s plan for XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks.
“Together with our partners, we are making hydrogen mobility a viable solution for our customers,” he said.
“We go beyond the truck itself to include areas such as hydrogen refuelling and truck maintenance.
“Here in the US, we plan to do the same, since each case needs its tailor-made service approach, especially during the transition phase from traditional to hydrogen. We plan to provide the best hydrogen value chain scenario for each and every customer.”
Hyundai also plans to foster the development of a clean hydrogen ecosystem through ‘Waste-to-Energy’, in which the hydrogen production system uses the biogas extracted from organic waste such as food waste, livestock manure and sewage sludge.
The concept business model is currently being demonstrated with a local Korean government.