Hyundai currently has between 100 and 150 Xcient trucks that have collectively driven more than 4 million miles in operations with various partners in five countries: Germany, Switzerland, Israel, South Korea and New Zealand. Hyundai now has some real-world data to better refine how it deploys H 2 trucks in the future. “With the volume going up, there will be more integration, there will be more technology, there will be significant cost decreases.” “What I’m saying is that it’s a relatively young industry,” he said. Fuel-cell technology is now getting out into the real world where lessons are learned and supply chains get built. It’s powerful enough that a doubled-up version powers the Xcient.Ĭompared to the fourth- or fifth-generation production batteries found in EVs, per Zeilinger’s reckoning, or the century-long effort to improve the internal-combustion engine, hydrogen fuel cells are relative infants despite decades of lab work. The Nexo’s fuel-cell system is much better integrated than the first-generation system found in the Tucson FCV launched in 2013.

Hyundai’s second-generation, mass-production fuel-cell vehicle (FCV), the Nexo, was launched in 2018. According to Martin Zeilinger, head of Hyundai Motor’s commercial vehicle development, a walkthrough of the ACT Expo show floor was an easy way to see how far fuel-cell systems have come in recent years. Hyundai can now focus on deploying the trucks after decades of developing fuel-cell technology. “The whole NorCAL project, with all the support from the government - from to Alameda County – that gets us roughly to diesel parity for the operation cost,” he said. There was plenty of government help, too, according to Mark Freymueller, head of commercial vehicle business innovation at Hyundai Motor Co. First Element Fuel set up a refueling infrastructure, for example, and Glovis America is the actual fleet operator. Before the trucks could get to work, though, Hyundai had to find partners. In 2021, Hyundai announced it would deliver 30 Xcient semis to the Port of Oakland through the NorCAL Zero project. Heavy-duty trucks – and the partnerships to make them operational – are an increasing part of that project.

The H 2 tractor at ACT was the latest step in a multi-year plan to expand the number of Xcients used worldwide, following the establishment of Hyundai’s HTwo brand to promote its 20-plus years of hydrogen research. Hyundai sees this as the key moment when its focus shifts from developing the truck to developing the hydrogen infrastructure and fuel supply. It displayed one of the large cabs at this year’s ACT Expo in Anaheim, California, alongside even larger ambitions for hydrogen mobility. The company is about to bring a fleet of hydrogen-powered 6x4 Xcient Fuel Cell Class 8 tractors to the U.S. Hyundai’s fuel-cell truck fleet is growing. We have a truck here, and you can buy it.”

Act expo 2018