Hyundai doubles down on hydrogen to reach carbon neutrality

Source: Akiko Fujita | · YAHOO FINANCE · | January 12, 2024

In an industry dominated by ambitions to go all-electric using battery power, Hyundai (HYMTF) is opting to go all-in on hydrogen.

The South Korean company unveiled its ambitions at CES 2024 in Las Vegas with a vow to own the entire hydrogen stack, from production and storage to transportation and utilization. It aims to do that by first using animal waste and plastics to produce clean-burning fuel.

"We are going [toward] zero emission, and renewable energy needs a buffer system because the sun doesn't shine at night," Martin Zeilinger, head of Hyundai's commercial vehicle tech unit, told Yahoo Finance Live. "We sometimes have snow, wind. We have to store the energy we produce, and we believe that hydrogen can play a major role in that."

Hyundai is among a handful of carmakers that have embraced hydrogen, including Toyota (TM) and General Motors (GM). The company first unveiled its hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle Nexo at CES in 2018 and now claims the largest market share in the space.

But Zeilinger stressed that the company’s announcement this time goes well beyond vehicles alone.

"We are talking about the hydrogen society," he said. "Cars, trucks, buses, mobility will be one of the off-takers of that hydrogen. The other can be producing steel with low carbon or zero carbon and other opportunities as well."

​​The global hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market is expected to grow more than 40% over the next decade to $57.9 billion, according to data from Allied Market Research. Hydrogen vehicles utilize fuel cells that convert hydrogen gas into electricity.