Hyundai to expand US hydrogen truck business with California nonprofit

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s top automaker, is gearing up its hydrogen truck business in the US by teaming up with a California nonprofit to expand its presence in the eco-friendly commercial vehicle market of the world’s largest economy.

Hyundai Motor on Thursday celebrated the official launch of NorCAL ZERO Project, California’s initiative for zero-emission freight transportation for the San Francisco Bay Area and California’s Central Valley.

“The project demonstrates how the transport energy transition is achievable today and will serve as one of the building blocks for Hyundai’s port decarbonization initiatives worldwide,” said Ken Ramirez, Hyundai’s head of global commercial vehicle & hydrogen business.

Hyundai Motor was selected as an eco-friendly commercial vehicle supplier for the project in 2021.

The maker of electric vehicle IONIQ 5 is building a hydrogen mobility value chain in North America in partnership with the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), a nonprofit organization with a mission to improve the climate through clean, efficient and sustainable transportation technologies.

The value chain includes establishing hydrogen infrastructure, supplying hydrogen-electric trucks, supporting financial services, as well as operating and managing vehicles.

TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS BY 24,000 TONS

As part of the NorCAL ZERO Project, Hyundai Motor supplied 30 Class 8 Xcient Fuel Cell with a 6x4 drive axle configuration to G.E.T Freight Corp., a truck-based logistics business of Glovis America Inc., a subsidiary of the automaker’s shipping affiliate Hyundai Glovis Co.

This delivery marks the single largest commercial deployment of Class 8 hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric trucks in the US, Hyundai Motor said. A Class 8 truck is a heavy-duty truck with a gross vehicle weight exceeding 33,000 pounds (14,969 kilograms).

CTE expected the NorCAL ZERO fleet to reduce carbon emissions by more than 24,000 tons by 2028 compared to diesel-powered vehicles. 

Hyundai Capital America, a financial unit of Hyundai Motor Group, is providing leasing and financing services to Glovis America.

The project is expected to gather momentum as FirstElement Fuel Inc., a US hydrogen station operator, recently opened a facility to fuel up to 200 heavy-duty trucks a day, Hyundai Motor said.

The automaker plans to supply five more hydrogen trucks to California during the first half in association with the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Program.

Write to Jin-Won Kim at jin1@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.