Hydrogen v EV: Hyundai decides

The Hyundai NEXO is a glimpse into a future in which the Korean car giant sees hydrogen-powered vehicles being the dominant force.

It’s a massive leap forward for the company's zero-emissions mobility dream, in which hydro-cars will supplant electric vehicles that require power from external sources rather than producing their own.

"This is the ultimate eco-friendly vehicle. We're committed to it. It's the one for the future," declared Woong-Chul Yang, the chairman of Hyundai's R&D centre in Namyang, South Korea, to Australian journalists.

In Las Vegas for this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, where the NEXO made its global premiere, he reckons hydrogen cars represent the "ultimate future" because they deliver true zero-emissions transport if the hydrogen generated comes from a sustainable source (not unlike BEVs if they use ‘green’ energy, which remains thin on the ground in Australia).

The only tailpipe emissions from the NEXO SUV is water vapour. It has three pressurised hydrogen tanks, which take only slightly longer to fill than a regular petrol or diesel car – three to five minutes – compared with hours for a BEV.

The five-seat fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) has almost double the range of today's most efficient battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), such as the Tesla Model S, at up to 800km.

FCEV infancy
Hyundai sold 4.5 million cars in 2017 and will surpass five million in 2018, and while the futuristic-looking NEXO will account for an infinitesimal percentage of sales – just a couple of thousands vehicles – the SUV's significance can't be underestimated.

Yang, one of the most senior executives within the Korean corporation, conceded the Hyundai NEXO "…cannot be a very popular vehicle [yet], but it has a mission."

That mission is to publicise and advertise FCEV technology to the masses.

"Fuel-cell hydrogen vehicles can be the ultimate vehicles. So we do our best to really promote this, and we're quite successful. The Tuscon [FCEV] is very popular in Europe but the infrastructure is not ready."

It's the old 'chicken and egg' conundrum. Which comes first? You need the refuelling infrastructure to support the hydrogen cars but you need the vehicles to provide custom.

Even so, interest in hydrogen cars is on the rise. There are already 20 orders for the NEXO in Australia, despite the fact there’s only one filling stations here. It’s owned by Hyundai at its Sydney HQ, while Toyota has a mobile filling station to support tests of its Mirai FCEV, which outsold the Tucson FCEV globally last year.

There are several more hydrogen stations under construction that will come online starting this year, including one near the Canberra CBD linked to the Hornsdale Windfarm Project. There are silent-running hydrogen garbage trucks coming to Victoria and FCEV buses for South Australia are planned.

While there are around 6000 petrol stations in Australia alone, presently there are just 118 hydrogen filling stations in Europe, 63 in the US and 10 in Korea.

Yang says the governments of both Japan and Korea are pushing hydrogen energy hard, and reckons there will be 500 filling stations globally by 2020.

Japanese car-makers such as Honda and Toyota are also committed to hydrogen, both offering rivals to the NEXO SUV in the form of the Clarity and Mirai hatchbacks respectively.

Mercedes-Benz also has strong interest in FCEVs, and BMW has previously experimented with hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion vehicles.

However, Nissan has spurned hydrogen tech and is currently pushing an EV agenda, putting all its eggs in the BEV basket with vehicles like the Nissan LEAF. US car-maker Tesla is also devoted to the EV cause.

The battle between hydrogen and BEV will be an interesting one, with some likening it to a Betamax v VHS fight in which only one will succeed. Others believe both can co-exist.

Hydrogen v EV – which will win?
Despite its long-term goal of developing a hydrogen hegemony, Hyundai is currently hedging its bets.

Kisang Lee, the senior vice-president of Hyundai's Eco Technology centre, reckons that by 2030 hydrogen propulsion systems for cars will be cheaper than EV powertrains.

"We guess after 2030 probably hydrogen, the system cost, can be more comfortable than pure electric. So for that era, we are preparing."

Nevertheless, he concedes that spending on EV R&D is considerably more than that of the company’s hydrogen projects: "Our research capital investment in EV is around twice that of hydrogen.

[caption id="attachment_232912" align="alignnone" width="640"] "This year we will announce three additional EVs, with around 300 miles [range]" - Kisang Lee, the senior vice-president of Hyundai's Eco Technology[/caption]"Our sales volume of pure electric vehicles is sixth position globally, so we're not falling behind in EVs. We have two tracks. The volume of EV is much larger than hydrogen, but hydrogen is just beginning.

"They are two different technologies that can be co-existing," he insists.

"This year we will announce three additional EVs, with around 300 miles [range]. Around the end of this year hopefully our EV sales volume can get into fifth position.

"This year we will introduce the [Hyundai] Kona and [Kia] Niro and the other one I can't say the name," he says.

Despite the investment in EV technology, which Hyundai will debut here in the form of the IONIQ this year, the Korean giant is convinced hydrogen will be the ultimate winner in the car world.

Yang says hydrogen now has the backing of big oil companies. If current petrol stations offer hydrogen, it would be a game-changer.

"We just formed the global hydrogen council, which has the members from automotive companies — all the European companies, plus Hyundai and Toyota," said Yang.

"Energy companies — oil companies like Shell and Total — they are big parts of this hydrogen council. They don’t just want to be oil companies, they want to be energy companies.

"They think hydrogen is something they are going for. They are very active in the hydrogen council and it’s gaining a lot of attention from governments.

"Fuel-cell vehicles have proved they are the ultimate vehicles," insisted Yang.

History will decide if he's correct.