Jeremy Bass•1 Mar 2013
NEWS
Hyundai ix35 FCEV enters series production
In an industry first, Hyundai commences production of fuel cell EV based on Tucson/ix35 SUVHyundai has taken another step along the road towards a global hydrogen economy with the announcement the company has commenced limited assembly-line manufacture of its ix35 Fuel Cell SUV, the first hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle to achieve the mass-production milestone. The car has been 14 years in development, with more than three million kilometres of road testing in Korea, Europe and the US under its wheels.
Most of the initial two-year production run of 1000 vehicles at the company’s Ulsan No.5 plant in South Korea is slated for lease to European fleets. The first one to roll off the line is part of a batch of 17 heading to Copenhagen, Denmark and the Swedish city of Skåne for local government fleet duties.
This is just the next step in a lengthy ride to market – the real test for commercial viability doesn’t come until 2015, when it’s slated for sale to private buyers. While it shows promise as an emissions slasher, fuel cell technology has long been held back by the shortage of available fuel gas. Hydrogen is the second most plentiful gas in the Earth’s atmosphere after nitrogen, but it’s also highly volatile and difficult to handle, store and dispense. The company has expressed hopes that it will be easier to find by the middle of the decade.
Hyundai Motor Co Australia officials have expressed interest in the vehicle with the company’s head office, but have told local media it will be months before the local office even establishes when it might be able to bring one Down Under. The Australian auto industry and its customer base don’t live under the same legislative pressure to cut emissions and fuel consumption as their European and US counterparts. Adding in the RHD requirement, getting it down here is low on the Korean giant’s priority list.
With a drivetrain good for IC-like range while emitting nothing but water vapour from the tailpipe, the fuel cell is very attractive in markets like Europe, working on an agenda to cut carbon emissions 80 per cent on 2009 levels by 2050.
The ix35 Fuel Cell is an EV drawing power for its electric motor from a hydrogen fuel cell rather than a conventional battery. The fuel cell “stack” comprises hundreds of layers of super-thin electrolyte membranes. Each has anode (positively charged electrode) and cathode (negatively charged electrode) layers on both sides, with separator layers providing a passage for the hydrogen and air needed to generate the chemical reactions producing electrical energy, as well as cooling water.
Unlike conventional batteries, fuel cells need refuelling, for which they carry a high-pressure hydrogen tank. The ix35 Fuel Cell consumes a claimed 0.95 kgH2/100km – equivalent to 27.8km/L (3.6L/100km) on the New European Driving Cycle (the NEDC is designed to give alt-powered vehicles a comparative fuel efficiency rating against their conventional IC counterparts).
Based on the car’s tank capacity of 5.6kg at 700 bar pressure, this turns into a range of up to 594km at speeds of up to 160km/h. It generates sufficient electricity to power a 100kW most, which Hyundai claims will push the vehicle from 0-100km/h in 12.5 seconds.
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Written byJeremy Bass
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