South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor announced on August 5 that it would invest in H2 Mobility, a hydrogen fueling infrastructure developer based in Germany, in support of its hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV), according to Reuters on the same day. H2 Mobility currently has 91 hydrogen fueling stations across the country. Prior to the deal, the German company has been a partner of Hyundai’s German subsidiary, its upcoming seventh shareholder, for four years. As the company remained in deficit, it saw Hyundai as crucial to help it scale up in the commercial vehicle sector and gain profits. Hyundai did not disclose the financial details of the investment.

Before its decision of investing in H2 Mobility, Hyundai has been far in the hydrogen area with partner companies in Europe, including TotalEnergies , Royal Dutch Shell , OMV , Linde , and Air Liquide . In 2016, Air Liquide and Hyundai were committed to deploying hydrogen stations in South Korea to promote the latter’s FCVs and develop FCV fleets for public transport in Europe. This year, Hyundai just renewed its partnership with Shell until 2026 on March 18, reinforcing the collaboration on hydrogen-fueled mobility solutions between the two. The joint R&D programs operated by the two companies would focus more on accelerating the energy transition to deliver greener energy in the future.

With the help of local partners in Europe, Hyundai is preparing its new hydrogen trucks for the European market. According to an announcement on May 24 from Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility (HHM), a joint venture between Hyundai and Swiss hydrogen company H2 Energy, the new Xcient Hyundai truck with long-life cells would be available in 4Q21. HHM has been offering Hyundai hydrogen truck renting services to local commercial companies for around ten months in Switzerland. For the next year, HHM aimed to launch more pilots in other European countries like Germany and the Netherlands. This scheme will put pressure on European automakers, while Volvo and Daimler are planning their FCVs recently.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/hyundai-take-stake-german-hydrogen-fuelling-group-h2-mobility-2021-08-04/

https://www.fuelsandlubes.com/hyundai-to-collaborate-with-shell-on-zero-emission-emobility-solutions/

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/06/20160606-airliquide.html

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/hyundai-raises-hydrogen-game-new-trucks-roll-into-europe-2021-05-24/