Hyundai Motor Planning to Increase Production Capacity
Nowadays, South Korean and Japanese automakers are focusing on hydrogen-powered vehicles in order to respond to ever-tightening environmental regulations. U.S. and European automakers are poised to enter the market as well.
Approximately two million cars are expected to be sold in the global hydrogen vehicle market in 2030. Hyundai Motor Group is planning to increase its annual hydrogen vehicle manufacturing capacity to 500,000 units in order to account for 25 percent of the global market.
The group released the world’s first commercial hydrogen vehicle in 2013 based on its Tucson ix. Its second-generation hydrogen vehicle Nexo has a driving range of 609 km, which is longer than those of the others in the same market. The Nexo differs from its predecessor in that it was developed as a hydrogen vehicle from the beginning.
Toyota and Honda, in the meantime, are currently supplying the Mirai and the Clarity, respectively. The driving range of the Toyota Mirai is 502 km and that of the Honda Clarity is 589 km. Hyundai and Honda use lithium-ion batteries for their electric vehicles whereas Toyota uses nickel-hydrogen batteries. At present, the three companies are the only hydrogen vehicle manufacturers in the world and the Hyundai Nexo is the only SUV among the three models.