Cooperation for Hydrogen Infrastructure
Hyundai Motor is strengthening partnerships with global energy companies to preoccupy the hydrogen electric vehicle market.
The company announced on June 5 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Air Liquide S.A., a French industrial gas company, on the 4th (local time) to boost cooperation to expand hydrogen infrastructure.
Hyundai Motor, in cooperation with Air Liquide, plans to push for the revitalization of the hydrogen electric vehicle market, utilizing hydrogen as a clean new renewable energy and development of business models of hydrogen energy stations, as part of its efforts to take lead in the global hydrogen electric vehicles.
Air Liquide is considered to have the world's top expertise in hydrogen production and hydrogen plant construction and operation. The French company purchased two Hyundai Tucson fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) in 2013 for the first time in the nation. It also installed Korea’s first hydrogen refueling station that meets international standards at the Hyundai Motor Group’s Environmental Technology Laboratory early this year.
With the latest MOU, the hydrogen electric taxi project in Paris, which is taken part in by Hyundai Motor, will be expanded. Five hydrogen electric vehicle taxis, which are co-produced by the two companies, are currently under test operation in Paris. When the operation of hydrogen electric vehicle taxis is expanded in Korea, based on operation performance in Paris, its global popularization will be accelerated.
Fuel-cell vehicles are considered the future of eco-friendly vehicles, far surpassing the competitiveness of electric vehicles in terms of charging time as well. They can be fully charged in just three minutes and can travel 500 km on a single charge.