Although "fuel vehicles will eventually withdraw from the stage of history" has long become an industry consensus in the automotive field, in the future era of new energy vehicles, whether hydrogen energy vehicles can be used as a tumbling "back wave" to achieve a counterattack, has become a suspense. There is no doubt that in today's popularity of pure electric and hybrid vehicles, the overall industry does not pay much attention to hydrogen energy vehicles. However, if we look at it from a longer time perspective, when the technical barriers are broken one after another, the balance of history will eventually tilt towards the "hydrogen-powered vehicles" with cleaner emissions and faster energy replenishment.
Although most people will feel that the real popularity of hydrogen energy vehicles is far away, the silence of the consumer market does not mean that hydrogen energy vehicles have not been developed in recent years. For example, as one of the earliest car companies in the world to deploy hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, Hyundai Motor Group is also the car company with the highest sales volume of hydrogen energy vehicles in the world, and its commercial product layout has begun to mature.
Adapt to the market demand of the times and create a full product lineup of "simultaneous development of passenger and business".
Since the establishment of the hydrogen fuel cell development department in 1998, Hyundai Motor has been committed to promoting the commercial application of hydrogen energy. Since the launch of the Hyundai Motor's ix35 FCEV, the world's first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, in 2013, Hyundai Motor Group has continued to expand its lineup of fuel cell system-powered models, including the hydrogen fuel cell SUV NEXO, the hydrogen fuel cell bus ELEC CITY Fuel Cell, and the hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty truck XCIENT Fuel Cell.
In 2018, Hyundai Motor Group launched the NEXO, the world's first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell SUV. As of October 2023, the cumulative sales of the NEXO have exceeded 3.7 units, making it one of the best-selling hydrogen fuel cell models in the world. At present, Hyundai Motor Group has officially introduced the Chinese version of the NEXO in China, which can be filled with hydrogen in just 5 minutes, has a range of 550 kilometers under CLTC-P working conditions, and still has excellent low-temperature starting performance at -30 degrees Celsius, which can fully meet the needs of users for daily travel and self-driving travel.
Unlike Europe, the United States, Japan, and South Korea, which focus on the mass production of hydrogen fuel cell passenger vehicles, Continental is currently focusing on R&D and promotion of commercial vehicles. In view of the different development situations of the market, Hyundai Motor Group's first overseas hydrogen battery system R&D, production and sales base - HTWO Guangzhou, together with Hyundai Commercial Vehicle, Xiamen Golden Dragon and other enterprises, also jointly developed the hydrogen fuel cell truck Shengtu and hydrogen fuel cell China-Pakistan Polaris, with the leading hydrogen energy technology advantages, to promote the hydrogen energy transformation of China's automobiles. In addition, Hyundai Motor will strive to become the first automaker in the world to equip all of its commercial vehicles with hydrogen fuel cell systems by 2028.
It is worth mentioning that Hyundai Motor has also developed the N Vision 74, a high-performance hydrogen fuel cell hybrid concept car with a maximum power of 680 hp, which allows the vehicle to accelerate to 100 in three seconds. It will provide global consumers with a perfect, environmentally friendly, and high-performance ultimate driving experience in the long-term market in the future.
In addition to automotive applications, Hyundai Motor's exclusive brand of hydrogen fuel cell systems, HTWO, has also expanded its application scope to multiple applications such as ships, rail vehicles, power generation facilities, and AAM, and is committed to building a cleaner and more environmentally friendly "hydrogen" world.
EVs and hydrogen energy are both blossoming, and a dual-line parallel technology option is being established
Electric vehicles have long been widely regarded as a transitional option from fuel vehicles to hydrogen vehicles. Of course, Hyundai is unlikely to miss any development opportunities in the time lag between hydrogen energy and pure electric vehicles, so Hyundai Motor has also made great achievements in the field of EV models.
In the global electric vehicle sales data in 2022, based on the strong momentum of the IONIQ series of models, Hyundai Motor ranks seventh in the world with 375,000 sales, and among the traditional auto giants, Hyundai Motor is second only to the alliance between Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan. At the technical level, such as the IONIQ 6, its 77.4kWh power battery can achieve a maximum range of more than 610km on a single charge under the WLTP standard, with a maximum 800V ultra-high-speed charging function, and can complete 80% of the power supply in 18 minutes at the earliest, which is at the world's leading level.
At the same time, based on the strong architecture capabilities of the E-GMP platform, Hyundai Motor has also integrated its high-performance genes of the N brand into its electric models. Hyundai's IONIQ 5 N model has been officially unveiled and is expected to be introduced to the Chinese market next year, with a driving performance of 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 260 km/h.
As an important strategic fulcrum of Hyundai Motor in the Chinese market, Beijing Hyundai has also added energy transition to the agenda, and put forward the strategy of accelerating the "transformation to the era of intelligent electricity", and plans to launch a new electric model next year, and in the next three years, it will develop more than five new energy products, including pure electric and plug-in hybrid, and adopt global unified standards for R&D quality and manufacturing. In addition, in order to further consolidate the young brand image, Beijing Hyundai has also launched the 11th-generation Sonata and the fifth-generation Shengda with the latest product concept, making every effort to fight the 2024 Young Flagship Year and contribute to the sustainable and rapid high-quality development of the company.
Undoubtedly, Hyundai Motor, based on its strong global TOP3 technology development capabilities, is leading the "hydrogen" wind step by step, providing innovative energy for the world to achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible. Based on the development model of "electricity + hydrogen", Hyundai Motor will also achieve great development opportunities. For Beijing Hyundai, it is Hyundai's strong product layout and profound technical heritage that allow it to obtain more leading resources and endorsement in the competition, and then enter the fast lane of development and transformation.