Hyundai Motor Equipped with Hydrogen Trucks and Electric Buses "Contributing to Commercial Vehicle Electrification"

[2023 Green Mobility Awards]
Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award Gold Woo-yeon Executive Director, Hyundai Motor LCM Center

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] "Although commercial vehicles have far fewer sales than passenger cars, they account for 24% of total carbon emissions from all vehicles. This is because they consume more fuel and have longer driving distances. That is why electrification of commercial vehicles is even more necessary."

Geum Woo-yeon, Executive Director leading the Commercial LCM Center at Hyundai Motor Company, explained the reason why electrification of commercial vehicles is needed in this way. On the 31st, Geum received the Green Mobility Award (Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award), the only award given to an individual, at the 2023 Green Mobility Awards hosted by Asia Economy. LCM stands for Life Cycle Management, and the LCM Center is an organization that covers the entire process from vehicle planning and development stages to purchasing, quality, and manufacturing, resulting in a finished vehicle. He was awarded for contributing to the electrification transition of commercial vehicles.

Geum Woo-yeon, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor Company Commercial LCM Center, is receiving the Green Mobility Award at the '2023 Korea Green Mobility Awards Ceremony' held on the 31st at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Hyundai Motor Company is the only global automaker mass-producing and selling hydrogen electric trucks. The principle is to generate electricity using fuel cells powered by hydrogen, resulting in zero emissions. Due to the nature of commercial vehicles such as buses and large trucks, which operate on fixed routes or pass through specific hubs, hydrogen fuel is considered more suitable in the mid to long term than pure electric vehicles powered solely by batteries.

Executive Director Geum said, "For large electric trucks to achieve driving ranges comparable to existing internal combustion engines, enormous batteries are required, but hydrogen trucks are relatively lighter and advantageous in creating space for cargo. While battery efficiency drops depending on temperature and charging takes time, hydrogen trucks do not have concerns about efficiency degradation or charging time."

Switzerland, which started operating hydrogen trucks for the first time in the world in 2020, has driven 46 trucks a total of 5.7 million kilometers so far. The reduced carbon dioxide emissions amount to 3,700 tons. Along with this, Hyundai has developed hydrogen buses as well as electric buses of various sizes. The electric city bus can travel 421 km on a single charge, and the hydrogen electric bus can go over 530 km.

Hyundai is developing hydrogen trucks in a 6×4 tractor form targeting the North American market, where large trucks have long average driving distances. Considering local characteristics, they aim to increase the driving range by 720 km by modifying various parts of the vehicle. They plan to supply these vehicles for port logistics use within the United States this year.

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