Hyundai hydrogen truck fleet clocks 20 million kilometres across Europe

Hyundai Motor Company says its Xcient Fuel Cell heavy-duty truck fleet has surpassed 20 million kilometres of real-world operation across Europe, marking a significant milestone for hydrogen-powered freight transport.

The distance was accumulated over five years by 165 heavy-duty Xcient Fuel Cell trucks operating in Switzerland, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Austria. Hyundai says the result demonstrates the potential for fuel cell electric vehicles to replace diesel trucks in commercial transport.

“Hyundai Motor is reducing carbon emissions by working with global partners to deploy hydrogen fuel cell trucks across various sectors such as logistics, distribution and urban public operations,” says Chul Youn Park, head of global commercial vehicle and light commercial vehicle business division at Hyundai Motor Company.

“Starting with our initial operations in Switzerland, we have expanded our presence across multiple regions in Europe while achieving visible progress in North America as well.”

The European rollout began in Switzerland in October 2020, where the Xcient Fuel Cell fleet reached 10 million kilometres of cumulative driving by June 2024 before doubling that figure by January this year.

Hyundai says the trucks are now being used across a growing range of applications, including food, beverage and clothing logistics in Switzerland; supermarket and textile distribution in Germany; retail logistics and specialised refuse and crane trucks in France; construction materials transport in the Netherlands; and refrigerated supermarket distribution in Austria.

The company estimates that a comparable fleet of diesel trucks covering the same 20 million kilometres would have emitted about 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Hyundai says the emissions avoided by the hydrogen trucks are equivalent to the amount of carbon absorbed annually by about 1.5 million pine trees.

Hyundai launched an updated Xcient Fuel Cell truck in 2025, featuring an upgraded hydrogen fuel cell system. The company says the vehicle has undergone extensive testing since 2021 to ensure it performs reliably across a range of climates and operating conditions, including port transport and medium-distance logistics.

Progress is also being reported in North America, where Xcient Fuel Cell truck operations began in 2023. A total of 63 trucks are now in service across the United States and Canada, collectively exceeding about 1.6 million kilometres.

In California, 30 Xcient Fuel Cell trucks are operating at the Port of Oakland under the NorCAL ZERO project. In Georgia, 21 units support logistics operations at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, while in Canada the trucks are operating under the BC Hydrogen Ports Project.

Hyundai says the performance of the Xcient Fuel Cell fleet across Europe and North America demonstrates its commercial viability and underlines the company’s role in advancing the global hydrogen energy transition.

In New Zealand, the Hyundai Xcient ticked over 100,000km of commercial operations with NZ Post in July 2024.