Hyundai Motor is expanding its partnership with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and its support of the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program.
The automaker and government want to increase technical collaboration to better understand challenges and to collect and publish independently validated data from demonstrating fuel cell technologies and hydrogen infrastructure under real world operating conditions.
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The partnership, and collaboration with others, would "help address technical barriers and enable progress in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across applications and sectors", the automaker said.
Hyundai will provide the DOE with five Nexo fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) for use in various regions of the country to help advance research and development of fuel cells.
Data from the vehicles and infrastructure will be collected, analysed and published to identify additional research needs in key areas such as durability, performance and reliability. Activities will also help support training and workforce development programmes.
Hyundai will also contribute funds to install a small scale hydrogen fueling station in the Washington, DC area this autumn, developed previously through the department's H-Prize H2Refuel competition
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By GlobalDataHyundai provided its first Nexo SUV to the energy department in 2019. The additional five vehicles will support work to accelerate the progress of hydrogen and fuel cell technology across diverse applications. This will include work with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Hyundai and the US federal government cooperation dates back to 2004 when the automaker offered 33 FCEVs for department's Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Project. From 2012 to 2017, Hyundai took part in the department's fuel cell vehicle confirmation program which was launched to help validate the performance of emerging hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
In December 2018, Hyundai Motor Group announced its Fuel Cell Vision 2030 plan which will boost its annual fuel cell system production capacity to 700,000 units by 2030.
A separate memorandum of understanding has been signed between the US Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA) and H2Korea – a South Korean private-government body promoting hydrogen convergence – to strengthen cooperation between the two countries to vitalise the global hydrogen economy.
The two groups agreed to exchange hydrogen technology, propose joint policies and establish organisations to promote international cooperation on scaling up the industry.
