In the first quarter of 2022, international oil prices climbed for some irresistible reason, with Brent crude and U.S. WTI rising 40% at one point in March, rushing to a new high of $139.13/ barrel. Perhaps this is only a short-term fluctuation under changes in the international environment, but it is undeniable that the fluctuation of crude oil will have a great inertia on the impact of the automobile market, and China's automobile industry is actively transforming on the track of new energy, not only to get rid of the dependence on traditional energy, but also to achieve the same level as developed countries in terms of energy conservation and environmental protection goals.
The National Development and Reform Commission has just announced the Medium and Long-term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021-2035). This plan relies on the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the long-term goal of 2035, in order to help achieve the "double carbon" goal, further promote the revolution of energy production and consumption, build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, and promote the high-quality development of the hydrogen energy industry.
True clean energy will be the driving force behind the future development of the automotive industry
As an emerging form of energy, hydrogen energy has the characteristics and advantages of large-scale stable storage, continuous supply, long-distance transportation, and rapid replenishment. The fuel cell is the use of hydrogen and oxygen in the air for chemical reaction to generate electricity, and use this power as the driving force to drive the engine, only discharge water during the driving process, will not discharge any pollutants, and truly achieve zero pollution, zero emissions. It is precisely because of this characteristic of hydrogen fuel cells that it has been widely recognized by the industry as the "ultimate energy solution".
As an important part of the future national energy system, the "Medium- and Long-term Plan for the Development of hydrogen energy industry (2021-2035)" released by the National Development and Reform Commission has clearly defined the development goals of three stages. In the first stage, by 2025, a relatively complete hydrogen energy industry development system and policy environment will be formed, the industrial innovation ability will be significantly improved, the core technology and manufacturing process will be basically mastered, and a relatively complete supply chain and industrial system will be initially established. At the same time, the number of fuel cell vehicles is about 50,000, and a number of hydrogen refueling stations are deployed. The amount of renewable energy hydrogen production reaches 100,000-200,000 tons/year, which has become an important part of new hydrogen energy consumption and achieves carbon dioxide emission reduction of 1-2 million tons/year。 After another 5 years of development, by 2030, a relatively complete hydrogen energy industry technology innovation system, clean energy hydrogen production and supply system will be formed. By 2035, a hydrogen energy industry system will eventually be formed, and a diversified hydrogen energy application ecology covering transportation, energy storage, industry and other fields will be built.
The release of this plan by the National Development and Reform Commission not only provides policy support for the accelerated development of China's hydrogen energy industry, but also reassures global car companies that hold a wait-and-see attitude.
Hyundai's hydrogen energy road leads the world, and the NEXO China version has come out
As a leader in hydrogen fuel cell technology, Hyundai Motor Group began to pay attention to fuel cell systems in the early twentieth century, focusing on giving the advantages of fuel cells to cars, helping to maintain the environment and ultimately achieve "human progress". With this as the core, Hyundai Motor Group began a period of more than 20 years of hydrogen fuel cell technology research and development. In December 2018, Hyundai Motor Group released the "FCEV 2030 Vision" for the development of medium- and long-term hydrogen energy and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The plan reaffirms Hyundai Motor Group's commitment to accelerate the development of a hydrogen society with its global leadership in fuel cell technology. Hyundai Motor Group plans to sell 670,000 electric vehicles by 2025, including 560,000 battery electric vehicles and 110,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, aiming to become the top three fuel cell vehicle manufacturers in annual sales and increase the annual production capacity of fuel cell systems to 700,000 units by 2030. Last year, Hyundai Motor Group updated the vision, further proposing the "Hydrogen Energy Vision 2040", planning to become the first car manufacturer in the world to use hydrogen fuel cell systems for all commercial models in 2028; by 2030, to achieve the goal of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEV) being on par with pure electric vehicles (BEVs) to ensure price competitiveness; and at the same time, hydrogen energy related industries will be deployed in mobile travel and various other fields, committed to making "everyone, everything, every place." "Both can use hydrogen energy easily.
As can be seen from Hyundai Motor Group's hydrogen energy strategy, this coincides with China's vision of developing hydrogen energy and hydrogen fuel cell industries. From the formal establishment of the fuel cell research and development department of Hyundai Motor Group in 1998 to the present, it has accumulated a large number of core technologies and provided strong technical support for the development of its hydrogen energy industry. In January 2018, the second generation of fuel cell vehicle NEXO was launched worldwide at the CES Consumer Electronics Show, and also let the entire industry see the leading degree of Hyundai Motor Group in fuel cell technology, on January 20 of the same year, in the China Electric Vehicle 100 Forum, former Minister of Science and Technology of China Wan Gang said after testing the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle NEXO: "NEXO is the vehicle with the highest level of driving performance, power performance and endurance performance in the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle I have tested so far. ”
In addition, in the just-concluded "2022 China Electric Vehicle 100 Annual Forum", Li Heyuan, president of Hyundai Motor Group (China), proposed that "the current hydrogen fuel vehicle promotion plan in various demonstration cities is mainly based on commercial vehicles, and it is recommended to strengthen the popularity of hydrogen fuel passenger vehicles and improve the acceptance of hydrogen energy by society, so that upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain can reduce costs through economies of scale and create a virtuous cycle structure in which enterprises spontaneously participate in the market." and other suggestions.
In the second half of this year, Hyundai Motor Group expects the first hydrogen fuel cell passenger car NEXO China to adapt to Chinese regulations to be officially introduced into China and commercial trial operation. It not only has a maximum power of 120 kW and a maximum torque of 395 Nm, but also takes only 5 minutes to fill up the required hydrogen, in full hydrogen state, CLTC-P operating conditions under the cruising range of 596 km, can fully meet the user's daily travel and self-driving travel needs. NEXO China's hydrogen storage tank is made of carbon fiber, which is 10 times stronger than steel. It is worth mentioning that the NEXO is also the world's first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle to receive euroNCAP's highest five-star safety rating, and won the highest rating of "TSP+ (Top Choice)" in the American Institute of Highway Safety Insurance (IIHS) vehicle crash test.
As of 2019, NEXO sold 4,987 units, ranking first in the global hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sales market, and cumulative sales as of June 2020 exceeded 10,000 units, accounting for 75% of the global hydrogen fuel cell passenger car market (data source: H2 Research). As of October 2021, NEXO's cumulative global sales have exceeded 20,000 units, making it truly the world's best-selling hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. It is precisely because of the Hyundai Motor Group's decades of technical accumulation in the field of hydrogen fuel cells that it is possible to build NEXO into a new energy vehicle with high performance and zero emissions, and has been widely recognized by users around the world, perhaps the sales of 20,000 vehicles are not worth mentioning at all for fuel vehicles, but as a preacher of hydrogen energy, NEXO has sent a clear signal to the market that Hyundai Motor Group will continue to move forward in the field of hydrogen energy, and go farther and farther.
Rooted in China, we are committed to promoting the development of the hydrogen energy industry
Since 2002, Hyundai Motor Group has been fully promoting the development of China's automobile industry with the development concept of "in China, for China". Nowadays, in the field of hydrogen energy, Hyundai Motor Group is unreservedly rooted in China, taking China's hydrogen energy industry planning as the model, actively promoting hydrogen energy technology and accelerating the layout of the Chinese market. Take the lead in introducing the world's leading hydrogen fuel cell technology into China, cooperate with local Chinese enterprises, and gradually expand the supply of the world's leading hydrogen fuel cell system to the automotive, generator, ship, train and other industries, and help China transform into a hydrogen energy society with its strong technical advantages and industry leadership.
On January 15, 2021, Hyundai Motor Group announced that it has signed an investment agreement with the Government of Guangzhou Development Zone to establish Hyundai Electric Hydrogen Fuel Cell Systems (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. in Guangzhou Development Zone, Guangzhou. On March 2, 2021, Hyundai Motor Group officially started construction of the world's first overseas hydrogen fuel cell system production and sales base, "HTWO Guangzhou". "HTWO Guangzhou" is located in Guangzhou Development Zone, Guangdong Province, covering an area of 207,000 square meters, and is expected to be officially completed and put into operation by the end of 2022. It will be built into a comprehensive base including a hydrogen fuel cell system production plant, an R&D center, and an innovation center. In the future, Hyundai Motor Group will also actively participate in the formulation of China's hydrogen energy technology standards and play a central role in building a hydrogen energy ecosystem.
Compared with the practice of other brands "showing muscle" in the Chinese market, Hyundai Motor Group is deeply aware of the importance of hydrogen energy for China's automobile industry and energy structure adjustment, and truly applies its core technology to the actual improvement of China's hydrogen energy industry, using the collective research and development capabilities of the entire industry to create new business opportunities through partnerships with other automakers. From hydrogen energy and fuel cells being written into the government work report for the first time in 2019 to hydrogen energy being officially written into the "14th Five-Year Plan" in 2021, it can be seen that china's hydrogen energy development in the future has been actively supported by the state, and there is also the full promotion of global hydrogen energy technology leaders like Hyundai Motor Group, and China's new energy vehicles are expected to truly achieve the goal of carbon neutrality and zero emissions as soon as possible in the future.