Big news from South Korea. Hyundai Group (HMG), the massive industrial conglomerate that owns Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, is investing £5.5billion in a plan that will boost production of hydrogen fuel cell systems to 700,000 units annually by 2030. 

500,000 of those units will be hydrogen-fuelled commercial and passenger vehicles. HMG expects demand for such vehicles to reach 2million units a year by then, and demand for hydrogen fuel cells more generally to reach 5.5 to 6.5million units a year. That’s massive. 

Only recently Hyundai Motor released the Nexo – a hydrogen-powered SUV based on the group’s first dedicated fuel-cell platform. Over the next few years, HMG says it will keep developing the Nexo’s powertrain to “upgrade and diversify its fuel-cell system lineup, so it can respond to demands from various industry sectors“.

The plan, which involves building new factories and is expected to create 51,000 jobs, will also see HMG “explore new business opportunities to supply its world-class fuel-cell systems to other transportation manufacturers of automobiles, drones, vessels, rolling stocks and forklifts”. 

Sounds…committed, no? Now we just need some more hydrogen filling stations, and we’re all set.