In Hungary, Genevation Aircraft and Alaka’i Technologies are building the Skai, billed as the first hydrogen-powered passenger drone. 

HYUNDAI Motor Company has shipped the first 10 of 50 hydrogen-powered trucks — the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell heavy-duty trucks — to Switzerland.

The trucks are powered by the Korean company’s Xcient Fuel Cells and arguably ends the debate on the benefits of storing electricity either in hydrogen tanks or lithium-ion batteries. 

This debate has been raging for years, with Tesla’s Elon Musk calling it fool-cells and future trend analysts like Tony Seba, co-founder of RethinkX and Erik Fairbairn, CEO of POD Point, pointing out
that all the negatives of batteries — their short ranges and long charging times — are in the past, but the hurdles to make, store and transport “clean” hydrogen are all still in place.

The VW and Daimler groups recently took heed of these facts and have announced an end to their
hydrogen programmes for passenger vehicles. VW said it dropped hydrogen because the system’s overall energy efficiency of 25%-30% is on par with an fossil-fuelled engines and compares poorly with the 70-90% efficiency of all-electric car systems.

A BMW/Toyota collaboration is following in Hyundai’s footsteps to develop cheaper hydrogen fuel cells systems for cars, but the Korean giant said the hydrogen’s quick refuelling times and expensive storage systems are better suited to electric trucks.

Daimler agrees, and had in April announced it will work with Volvo Trucks to launch hydrogen-powered trucks “in the second half of the decade”.

In Switzerland, Hyundai said it plans to roll out a total of 1 600 hydrogen trucks by 2025, reflecting the company’s environmental commitment and technological prowess as it works toward reducing carbon emissions through zero-emission solutions. The Hyundai trucks have seven large hydrogen tanks with a combined storage capacity of around 32,09 kg of hydrogen that gives the truck a driving range about 400 km.

Refuelling time for each truck takes approximately 8-20 minutes.

The latest electric cars typically have a range of 300 km and can be recharged in an hour using super chargers, but their range decreases rapidly with steep hills or heavy loads, which is why trucks and big SUV’s fare better when the power is stored in light hydrogen fuel tanks rather than heavy batteries that add to the vehicles weight.

Executive Vice President and Head of Commercial Vehicle Division at Hyundai Motor, In Cheol Lee, said a “comprehensive hydrogen ecosystem” now needs to be built in Switzerland to lead to “a paradigm shift that removes automobile emissions from the environmental equation”.

“Having introduced the world’s first mass-produced fuel-cell electric passenger vehicle, the ix35, and the second-generation fuel cell electric vehicle, the Nexo, Hyundai is now leveraging decades of experience, world-leading fuel-cell technology, and mass-production capability to advance hydrogen in the commercial vehicle sector with the Xtravelling Fuel Cell,” he added.

This will include hydrogen made using electrolysis during off peak times at hydro-electric dams, instead of  the polluting gasification process used in the USA or the even dirtier coal to hydrogen process used in Australia. 

In addition to Xcient Fuel Cell, Hyundai is also developing a long-distance tractor unit capable of travelling 1 000 kilometres on a single charge.

It will be equipped with an enhanced fuel cell system with high durability and power, aimed at global markets including North America and Europe.

Greens slam Europe's H2 plans 

THE European Commission yesterday announced an industry-led alliance that aims to position Europe as a global leader on hydrogen, and the greenies hate the very idea.

According to the draft EU document, one of the key objectives will be to deliver “a pipeline of large-scale investment projects in the clean hydrogen ecosystem” that will benefit from special status as so-called Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs).

Normal EU rules will not apply to those projects, allowing national governments to subsidise them without having to observe the EU’s usually strict state aid limits.

The EuraActive website reports environmental groups have criticised the commission’s plans for favouring the oil industry. The composition of the governing board, in particular, is focusing criticism from the Greens.

Tara Connolly, an energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, an environmental NGO, said the Commission is handing the keys to Europe’s hydrogen sector over to the fossil fuel industry, which she said “have no interest in producing renewable hydrogen and just want a way to keep Europe hooked on fossil fuels.”

Wath Tony Seba destroy hydrogen here

Another critic of hydrogen systems, analyst Tony Seba, states in his “Entrepreneurship, Disruption and Clean Energy” lecture as part of Stanford’s Continuing Studies Programme, that current processes to make hydrogen at industrial scale emits more toxic gasses than the diesel engines it can in theory replace. He adds the infrastructure needed to transport hydrogen will costs billions of dollars, with no cost savings at the fuel pump..