Hyundai goes all in on hydrogen, and counting on meals waste to make that occur

Kia-owner Hyundai definitely isn’t in a giant rush to go carbon impartial. It has set its goal because the far-away date of 2050. However now it says it should rely closely on hydrogen gasoline cells generated from plastic, meals, and natural waste to energy a complete new technology of EVs, from passenger automobiles to heavy-duty vans. Downside is, there’s nowhere to cost them.

The South Korean automaker is amongst a small group of corporations embracing hydrogen gasoline cell know-how, with GM, Toyota, and Honda amongst them. At CES in Las Vegas, the corporate introduced that hydrogen gasoline will now play a “essential position in Hyundai’s sustainability roadmap as it’s a clear power supply.”

“Clear hydrogen needs to be for everybody, powering every little thing, and obtainable all over the place,” Jay Chang, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor Firm, mentioned in an announcement. It plans to make use of hydrogen in any variety of autos, from passenger automobiles to buses and vans, in addition to trams, boats, energy mills, superior air mobility, and particular gear.

Hyundai has already been mass-producing hydrogen gasoline cell EVs for some time with its Nexo line. At the moment the 2024 Hyundai Nexo compact crossover and the Toyota Mirai sedan are the one two hydrogen gasoline cell (FCEV) EVs in the stores within the US, and that’s solely in California.

Somewhat than plugging within the automobile as you’d for a battery-electric automobile, hydrogen gasoline cells depend on compressed hydrogen. To recharge, you’ll be able to high off your automobile through a gasoline cell stack in about 5 minutes. For the Nexo, a recharge can take you 380 miles, with its solely emissions being water vapor.

Downside is, there’s virtually no hydrogen infrastructure and only a few hydrogen recharging stations, and solely a smattering in North America. China has the most important community of recharging stations on the earth, however in California, you’ll discover round 63 recharging stations, largely round Los Angeles and San Francisco. Within the East Coast, there are perhaps a handful of stations. Storing hydrogen is a problem too in that it requires excessive pressures, low temperatures, or different chemical course of to maintain it compact.

Hyundai has additionally introduced that it’s growing “megawatt-scale polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzer manufacturing capabilities for inexperienced hydrogen manufacturing, which is predicted to commercialize throughout the subsequent few years.” The corporate plans to make this transition through its hydrogen gasoline cell system model, HTWO, launched in 2020. 

To provide hydrogen, the corporate will deal with Waste-to-Hydrogen strategies, which entails fermenting natural waste, equivalent to meals and livestock manure, to supply biogas. The biogas is then handled to seize CO2 and produce hydrogen. One other technique, Plastic-to-Hydrogen, will use waste plastic that’s recyclable – first it’s melted, the changed into fuel, then reworked into hydrogen after stripping away unessential parts.

Hyundai additionally introduced some new applied sciences at CES, together with its “Software program-defined Every thing,” which “goals to rework all shifting units, fleets and ecosystems into beneficial property by superior software program and AI.” Hyundai, like a variety of different automakers, is growing software-defined autos, à la Tesla, which may then be up to date through over-the-air updates. The corporate mentioned it’s shifting “every little thing right into a software-defined strategy, from automobile improvement to constructing the complete mobility ecosystem.” What this implies appears to be that Hyundai drivers can anticipate to see some new infotainment upgrades, a brand new app library, and the event of SDKs for builders to create some “killer apps.” AI, after all, can be part of the package deal, with its in-car voice help up to date to allow extra seamless communication between the automobile and the motive force. Hyundai’s $100 million stake in AI chip producer Tenstorrent ought to assist make that occur.