Collecting Garbage with Hydrogen Trucks... 10 More Seoul Hydrogen Taxis Deployed

Hyundai Motor Company Hydrogen Taxi

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] A 5-ton hydrogen truck for garbage collection will be introduced in Changwon City, Gyeongnam. In Seoul, 10 hydrogen taxis will be piloted by 2022.

On the 14th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony for hydrogen truck and hydrogen taxi demonstration cooperation at the Korea Automotive Research Institute in Cheonan.

At the event, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, Changwon Mayor Heo Seong-mu, Chairman of the Hydrogen Convergence Alliance Moon Jae-do, Director of the Korea Automotive Research Institute Heo Nam-yong, Hyundai Motor President Gong Young-woon, Daeduk Transportation CEO Moon Chung-seok, and Yoo Chang Transportation CEO Kim Dong-wan attended and agreed to actively cooperate in the demonstration project.

The hydrogen truck is a vehicle converted from a 5-ton CNG truck into a hydrogen truck for garbage collection, and it is scheduled to perform actual garbage collection duties in Changwon City. 8 billion KRW will be spent to pilot operate one hydrogen truck for garbage collection by the end of 2021.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, "This is the first case of a hydrogen truck being actually operated on domestic roads," and added, "Compared to hydrogen passenger cars, the technology difficulty is higher due to high durability, so this will be a signal to take a step ahead in the global hydrogen truck market competition."

Since September last year, 10 hydrogen taxis have been deployed in Seoul, and this year, an additional 10 taxis will be introduced with a budget of 7.8 billion KRW. This is to verify and improve the durability of hydrogen taxis. It is estimated that more than 300,000 passengers will experience hydrogen vehicles by the completion of the demonstration in 2022.

The Ministry plans to improve the durability of key parts through this demonstration project and subsequent research and development support, aiming to enhance the current hydrogen vehicle durability of about 100,000 km to over 250,000 km by 2022.

Minister Sung stated, "With the global interest in health and safety increasing in the post-COVID-19 era, the demand for hydrogen vehicles that do not emit fine dust and greenhouse gases will further increase."

He continued, "The government will focus on fostering hydrogen vehicles and related industries as core strategic industries pioneering the post-COVID-19 era, creating future jobs and accelerating the transition to a leading economy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.