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Hyundai unveils hydrogen-powered concept vehicle: Hyundai Motor debuted a new hydrogen-powered car, Initium, which will be released on the market in 1H 2025 as part of its energy transition strategy, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
The specs: Initium will have a driving range of over 650 km. The car can also be added to a household’s electricity supply to step in as a backup source of energy. The car has a slightly longer range than the company’s 2018 first hydrogen-based SUV, Nexo, which had a 609 km range.
Hydrogen cars aren’t popular, but Hyundai is still going in: Hydrogen fuel is still hard to scale and is difficult to move, store, and distribute, and the majority of research indicates that EVs are the best bet for cutting car emissions in terms of speed and costs of mass adoption. Still, the company pledged USD 4 bn to the technology as part of efforts to reach net zero by 2045. Hydrogen-powered vehicles “are not the type that’s profitable, but regardless, we’re pushing for it, tackling it as if it’s a mission of ours,” CEO Jaehoon Chang said during the debut event.
What does the company see in hydrogen? Hydrogen refuels faster and allows for a longer driving range. It also has a higher storage density and can be lighter, making the clean fuel better suited for heavy-duty commercial use.
There are some other proponents of hydrogen vehicles: Saudi Arabia’s Transport General Authority initiated a trial phase of hydrogen-powered vehicles in the private taxi sector last month. BMW also said it was planning to launch its first hydrogen-powered car in 2028 with Toyota. Meanwhile, major truck manufacturers like Volvo and MAN are developing hydrogen combustion engines as a quicker, cost-effective alternative to diesel in a bid to accelerate their transition to low-emission technologies.
We may see commercial hydrogen-powered trucks sooner than other vehicles: Some truck manufacturers are betting on hydrogen as more suitable for long-range, heavyweight trucks than batteries, which are very slow to charge and heavy. Major truck manufacturers like Volvo and MAN — which plans to test 200 hydrogen trucks next year — are developing hydrogen combustion engines as a quicker, cost-effective alternative to diesel in their bid to accelerate the transition to low-emission technologies. Germany’s Bosch and US’s Cummins are also working to overcome challenges to scaling hydrogen trucks, with Cummins aiming to have market-ready products within five years.
