Hyundai Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Fleet Rolls Into London

ORIGINAL: Earth Techling 

by Nino Marchetti

Hyundai, fresh off a recent deployment of a small number of its ix35 Fuel Cell vehicles to the city of Copenhagen, Denmark to be used there in a municipal fleet, is ramping up distribution as it now turns to London. The historical capital of the United Kingdom, already an ambitious player in the green vehicle space, has as one of its initiatives the three year LHNE (London Hydrogen Network Expansion) project. The South Korean automaker is one of those taking part in this fuel cell station network build out.

Plans call for Hyundai to offer up five ix35 vehicles to the LHNE endeavor. They will be “leased to key public and private fleet users in the capital” and are among the first of 1,000 such fuel cell vehicles the company has committed to producing between now and 2015. Most of them are already allocated for Europe, where the European Commission has established a number of schemes, such as the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), to promote the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier with zero carbon content.

Hyundai has the distinction of its ix35 being the first production fuel cell car in the world. It offers a zero emissions driving experience, a range of up to 369 miles, a 100 MPH maximum top speed and 0-62 MPH acceleration in 12.5 seconds. Its role in the LHNE project consists of being put into daily business use to see how it performs in more real world driving experiences on busy streets.

image via Hyundai

As for what LHNE specifically is, the goal of this government-backed initiative that’s co-funded by the Technology Strategy Board is to create the UK’s first hydrogen powered transport system across London and the South East. It will eventually offer up a series of publicly accessible, fast-fill 700 bar renewable hydrogen fueling stations.

The United Kingdom, like Hyundai, is becoming something of a leader in the hydrogen fuel cell space, seeing its first refueling station open in 2011. London hosts, besides the LHNE, a number of fuel cell buses as well as hydrogen powered black cabs.

“These are early days,” said Kit Malthouse, London Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise and Chairman of the London Hydrogen Partnership, in a statement, “but I am tremendously excited by the prospects of London’s hydrogen future. Hyundai is providing invaluable insights and bringing global experience to the Mayor’s innovative low carbon, low emission transport activities.”

Hyundai Fuel Cell Vehicle Whips Ahead Of GM, Toyota To Market

ORIGINAL: Earthtechling

by Nino Marchetti

March 1st, 2013 

Has Hyundai won the race to get the first hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle into assembly line production? They seem to think so, especially if you consider the fact they are currently targeting fleet use versus consumer driving. The iX35, which has been Hyundai’s contribution to the fuel cell auto race, is a SUV who’s first production model will be showcased at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show.

Hyundai has been battling with its rivals Toyota and GM, among others, to be the first to get mass produced fuel cell vehicles to market sometime in the 2015 to 2016 range. Their particular journey has been a long one, with word last October they were gearing up for the recent debut. Prior to that, they started out by first showcasing the Santa Fe FCEV many, many moons ago. It was followed a few years ago by the Tucson ix35 FCEV. This vehicle was used in a test fleet of 50 in Korea as well as, GM-VOLT reports, other tests around the world.

The automaker noted also the ix35 Fuel Cell is the result of 14 years and several hundred million euros of research by hundreds of engineers at its fuel cell R&D center in Mabuk, Korea.

image via Hyundai

The company’s plans call for 1000 of the ix35s to be built by 2015 for lease to to public and private fleets, primarily in Europe, where the European Union has established a hydrogen road map and initiated construction of hydrogen fueling stations. Where are we meanwhile with such build out? Check California for your answer.

After 2015, with lowered vehicle production costs and further developed hydrogen infrastructure, it is believed they will begin manufacturing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for consumer retail sales.

So what exactly is under the hood of the ix35? The fuel cell tech, which Hyundai describes as proprietary, converts the hydrogen into electricity, which turns the vehicle’s motor. The only emission generated by the vehicle is water, and it reportedly boasts good drivability and performance which is pegged at 0 to 100 km/h in 12.5 seconds (0 to 60 MPH), a top speed of 160 km/h (100 MPH) and a range of 594 kilometers (369 miles) with a single charge. Refueling is said to take just a few minutes, which in some cases can mean just three.

What helps with the vehicle’s marketability is what’s described as development and application of a new radiator grille, bumper, fog lamps, instrument cluster and 7-inch GPS exclusively for it. Perhaps even bigger than this though is the modularization of fuel cell systems for the core part of the ix35 – fuel cell stack, driving device and inverter – which enabled the engine to be downsized to match the size of a gas engine while “improving productivity and making maintenance more convenient.”