Hyundai Motor Leads Hydrogen Truck Segment

Hyundai Motor's hydrogen vehicle Nexo

Hydrogen vehicles are emerging rapidly as green cars of the future. Hyundai Motor Co. and Toyota are currently leading the market, and German automakers are throwing down the gauntlet.

It is in the market segment of commercial hydrogen vehicles that competition is heating up. Diesel trucks are being increasingly shunned in major countries and hydrogen electric trucks are emerging as an alternative in that they are superior to electric vehicles in weight, driving range and required charging time.

The first mover in the segment is Hyundai, the only company in the industry that has manufactured such vehicles. The company began to export hydrogen electric trucks to Switzerland last year. At present, it is building hydrogen fuel cell plants in South Korea and China. It is planning to export 25,000, 12,000 and 27,000 hydrogen electric trucks by 2030 to Europe, the United States and China, respectively.

Toyota is planning to build hydrogen fuel cell module production lines in Kentucky by 2023. In addition, it is going to set up a joint venture with five Chinese companies in order to supply hydrogen vehicle systems for trucks and buses in China starting from next year.

Daimler recently set up a joint venture with Volvo Trucks in order to develop hydrogen fuel cell systems. Daimler's first hydrogen truck is expected to make its debut in 2025. Daimler unveiled its first concept in September last year and it can cover a distance of 1,000 kilometers once fully charged. Renault Group recently founded a joint venture with Plug Power to enter the commercial hydrogen vehicle segment.

Competition is heating up in the hydrogen passenger car segment as well. Hyundai released its first hydrogen vehicle Nexo in 2018 and accounted for 69 percent of the global hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market last year. Toyota’s second-generation Mirai debuted late last year to compete with the Hyundai Nexo 2021 lowered in price and coming with more conveniences. BMW is planning to launch its first hydrogen electric vehicle in 2022 and the vehicle will be based on the X5 SUV. BMW and Toyota are working together to catch up with Hyundai.

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