Pilot Project for Parcel Delivery Using Hydrogen Cargo Trucks... Full-Scale Mass Production Starting in 2023

Hydride Vehicle Exterior (Source=Ministry of Environment)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The government will collaborate with the private sector to pilot operate five large hydrogen cargo trucks starting next year. Following the pilot project period, mass production of hydrogen cargo trucks will officially begin in 2023.

On the 20th, the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport signed a "Memorandum of Understanding for the Hydrogen Cargo Truck Supply Pilot Project" with Hyundai Motor Company, CJ Logistics, Hyundai Glovis, and Coupang at the CJ Logistics Terminal located in Okcheon-gun, Chungbuk.

This memorandum was established to reduce emissions of air pollutants from large cargo trucks. Although large cargo trucks account for only about 1% of the total number of vehicles, they have been identified as one of the main causes of air pollution in the road transport sector.

A single large cargo truck emits more than 40 times the amount of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) compared to the average vehicle, and the total fine particulate matter emissions from all large cargo trucks account for 24.2% of the total vehicle emissions. In particular, there have been difficulties in reducing fine dust emissions from large cargo trucks due to the lack of suitable alternative vehicle types.

The pilot project will be conducted from 2021 to 2022 with five hydrogen cargo trucks operating on the Gunpo-Okcheon route and in the metropolitan area.

The Ministry of Environment will provide subsidies to logistics companies to purchase five large (10-ton class) hydrogen cargo trucks to be released in 2021. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will support development and demonstration to improve the performance of hydrogen cargo trucks, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will explore fuel subsidy support measures to reduce the operational burden of hydrogen cargo trucks.

Hyundai Motor Company will launch the hydrogen cargo trucks, and each logistics company has agreed to purchase and use the hydrogen cargo trucks.

During the pilot project period, after improving vehicle performance, mass production and supply of hydrogen cargo trucks will be actively pursued starting in 2023.

The Ministry of Environment plans to actively promote the zero-emission cargo truck project based on this pilot project.

Small cargo trucks with short single-trip distances will be supplied as electric cargo trucks, while medium and large cargo trucks with longer trip distances will be supplied as hydrogen cargo trucks.

To this end, a "Cargo Truck Zero-Emission Roadmap," including mid- to long-term zero-emission goals, detailed tasks, and government support measures, will be prepared by the second half of this year.

Hong Jeong-gi, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environment, stated, "We will actively promote policies to convert diesel cargo trucks, which emit large amounts of air pollutants, to hydrogen or electric cargo trucks."

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