World’s First Fuel Cell Commercial Heavy Truck, Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell, Heads to Europe

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Hyundai Motor Company has shipped the first 10 units of the Hyundai Xcient Fuel Cell, the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell heavy-duty truck, to Switzerland. The company plans to ship a total of 50 Xcient Fuel Cells to Switzerland this year, with handover to commercial fleet customers starting in September.

Once the project is underway in Switzerland, Hyundai plans to expand it to other European countries as well. Hyundai will roll out 50 trucks this year and total of 1,600 units by 2025.

XCIENT Fuel Cell

The Hyundai XCIENT semi trucks is powered by a 190-kW hydrogen fuel cell system with dual 95-kW fuel cell stacks. Seven large hydrogen tanks offer a combined storage capacity of around 32.09 kg of hydrogen. The driving range for XCIENT Fuel Cell is about 400 km on a single refuelling. This was developed to find an optimal balance between the specific requirements from the potential commercial fleet customers and the charging infrastructure in Switzerland. Crucially, the trucks can be topped off with hydrogen in 8-20 minutes.

In 2019, Hyundai Motor Company formed Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility (HHM), a joint venture with Swiss company H2 Energy, which will lease the trucks to commercial truck operators on a pay-per-use basis, meaning there is no initial investment for the commercial fleet customers.

Fuel cell technology is particularly well-suited to commercial shipping and logistics due to long ranges and short refuelling times. The dual-mounted fuel cell system provides enough energy to drive the heavy-duty trucks up and down the mountainous terrain in the region.

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Jason Smith
Jason Smith
Jason has been an engineer, project manager, teacher and car enthusiast. He has climbed in the Himalayas, survived a shipwreck, and lived on a gold mine in the Yukon. He and his wife share their home in Southern California with two extraordinary boys and a lifetime collection of books. Recently Jason is focusing on trends in technology, automotive industry and car electrification.