Swiss award for fostering hydrogen

Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility (HHM) has been awarded the ‘Watt d’Or 2021’ for fostering Switzerland’s burgeoning hydrogen ecosystem.

HHM and its business partners Hydrospider AG, H2 Energy AG and H2 Mobility Switzerland Association were honoured in the award’s “Energy-efficient Mobility” category for energising the nation’s hydrogen-powered commercial mobility sector.

The Swiss Federal Office of Energy annually bestows the award to entities making innovative progress in Switzerland’s future-oriented energy scene.

HHM was established in April 2019 as a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Company and H2 Energy AG. Its main business activity is renting out emission-free commercial vehicles (Hyundai Xcient Fuel Cell heavy-duty truck) with the aim of decarbonising the commercial mobility ecosystems of Switzerland and the broader Europe.

The partnership between HHM and the companies involved has been dubbed the “Hydrogen Champions League” for introducing hydrogen to freight transport and logistics, as well as creating a new business model encompassing hydrogen-powered trucks, hydrogen refuelling stations and hydrogen production and shipping.

In Switzerland, the coalition has 50 units of Hyundai Xcient Fuel Cell trucks – the world’s first FCEV heavy-duty truck – which are in the process of being rented out to commercial customers.

The plan is to have 1600 Xcient units in operations by 2025.

“We are very proud that the Swiss Federal Office of Energy has recognised our effort to establish the first commercially-viable zero-emission hydrogen network,” HHM chief executive Mark Freymüller says.

“Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility has always advocated that the future of mobility has to be a mix of different technologies, with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles playing a major role alongside battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

“We are happy that we are able to demonstrate what this vision looks like in reality here in Switzerland, and we will continue to do so in the future.”

With its emission-free hydrogen cycle, the private-sector initiative is making a major contribution to Switzerland’s decarbonisation efforts in the heavy-goods transport industry – an FCEV heavy-duty truck annually travelling around 80,000km achieves yearly savings of 64 to 65 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Furthermore, by producing green hydrogen exclusively from renewable energies such as hydro, solar and wind, the coalition has tangibly boosted the supply and demand for hydrogen in an eco-friendly, emission-free way.

Hyundai says a unique cooperation between different partners can bring about a hydrogen economy much sooner and more productively than previously thought.

One recent pioneering innovation comes from the Hyundai Veloster ETCR electric motorsport car, powered by a hydrogen generator. This advanced breakthrough, using hydrogen as a storage medium, will pave the way for the environment-conscious, electrified motorsport world, Hyundai says.

It plans to produce 700,000 units of fuel cell systems annually by 2030.

Hyundai recently added the “H2 Solution” pillar to the company’s “Strategy 2025” roadmap as part of efforts to further advance its hydrogen fuel cell technology.

The company has also introduced “HTWO” – a new brand to represent Hyundai Motor’s world-leading capabilities in next-generation hydrogen fuel cell systems for various mobility solutions such as urban air mobility devices (UAMs), automobiles, vessels and trains.