Focus: Hyundai raises hydrogen game as new trucks roll into Europe

ElringKlinger AG

24/05/2021 07:00

* More Xcient trucks due to arrive in Q4
    * Green hydrogen for trucks still expensive, rare 
    * Battery-electric trucks have pulled ahead of hydrogen
    * Battery drawbacks include charging, high payload

    By Vera Eckert and John Revill
    FRANKFURT, May 24 (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor
 005380.KS  plans to ship a new series of fuel-cell trucks to
Europe later this year, turning up the heat on rivals in a
battle to test the viability of hydrogen-powered heavy goods
transport.
    A new class of the Xcient Hyundai truck, equipped with more
efficient fuel cells with longer life-span, is due to arrive in
Europe in the fourth quarter, said Mark Freymueller, CEO of
Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility (HHM).
    Hydrogen lags electric batteries in the green transport
stakes because it is more expensive, but proponents say for
long-haul transport hydrogen-powered trucks have the advantage
because they have a greater range.
    HHM, a joint venture between Hyundai and Swiss hydrogen
company H2 Energy, has been renting out "green" hydrogen trucks
to commercial clients in Switzerland since last October in the
world's most advanced pilot in the field.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2AK76N
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2GX2KB
    HHM plans to go into other European countries next year.
"Germany and the Netherlands are the most likely," Freymueller
told Reuters, adding there was also interest for pilots from
Austria, Norway, France, Italy, Spain and Denmark.    
    Hyundai's latest push will put more pressure on local
players, which are developing their own hydrogen plans.
    These include Germany's Daimler  DAIGn.DE  with Sweden's
Volvo  VOLVb.ST  and Italy's Iveco, a unit of Italian-American
vehicle maker CNH Industrial  CNHI.MI , which is cooperating
with low-emission truckmaker Nikola  NKLA.O .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2MM0TF 
    Hydrogen has come into the spotlight in Europe, where EU
environment ministers want truck CO2 emissions cut by a third by
2030 from 2019 levels, threatening potential diesel bans and
higher taxes but promising up to 75% of lower road tolls for
greener vehicles.    
    Although more expensive than battery electric vehicles, fuel
cell electric vehicles, driven by on-board hydrogen, will
potentially benefit from Europe's desire to build a
world-leading industry around the hydrogen technology.
    A study by consultancy Berylls Strategy Advisors reckons
that by 2030, 25% of new truck sales in Europe will be battery
powered and 10% fuel cell. But the ratio could change if green
hydrogen is scaled up, it said.
    
    POSITIVE FEEDBACK
    Hyundai chose Switzerland for its pilot on the basis of
benign regulation, environmentally conscious customers and
reliable hydropower, which accounts for 58% of the country's
power mix. Local road tax is waived for no-carbon vehicles while
fossil fuel ones pay around 800 euros ($977) for each tonne of
CO2 they emit.    
    "Anyone wanting to see how fuel cell technology works on the
road should go to Switzerland," said Steffen Stumpp, head of the
business unit commercial vehicles at Berylls.
    Initial customer feedback on Hyundai's pay-per-use pilot
seems positive. Drivers at grocery chain Coop  BELL.S  like the
similar payload to diesel trucks and with only a few minutes of
refuelling, a spokeswoman said.
    "There was no need to change my driving style," Nadine
Sigrist, a driver for retailer Migros in the Zurich region, said
"What was new for me was the huge acceleration and the quiet
engine."
    As more Hyundai trucks arrive, Swiss power utility Alpiq
 ALP.SG  is planning to ramp up its electrolysis capacity at
Niedergoesgen where it produces green hydrogen that is then
transported on trucks as gas to filling stations.
    "We will go from 2 megawatts in the direction of
double-digit, or 5-10 megawatts," said Amedee Murisier, head of
hydropower generation at Alpiq and board member of Hydrospider,
a Swiss green hydrogen joint venture between Alpiq, gases group
Linde  LIN.N  and H2 Energy.
    Hydrospider could reach breakeven as soon as 2022, Murisier
said.        
    
    BATTERY VS FUEL CELLS
    McKinsey expects hydrogen for fuel cell electric vehicles to
achieve break-even with diesel only in 2028 at the earliest, but
carmakers are pushing ahead with plans, albeit at different
speeds.
    Nikola and Iveco say they will produce a fuel cell electric
vehicle by 2023, putting them two years ahead of Volvo and
Daimler Truck, which are muscling in but will not have test
trucks for three and a half years.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2MM0TF  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2N7177
    Separately, Daimler group subsidiary Mercedes Benz will
prepare customer trials for its GenH2 Truck in 2023.
    "Nikola's timeline is significantly ahead of Daimler/Volvo,"
said Stumpp. "Hyundai will be neck on neck with Nikola/Iveco if
they offer the Xcient in other European markets."
    Daimler Truck chief executive Martin Daum said that a
hydrogen fuelling network needed to be in place first before
fuel cell trucks would find buyers, which would take years to
develop, so they were timing their moves in line with the
infrastructure. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2N80N4
    Truckmaker Paccar's  PCAR.O  DAF is also in the game, but
its priority is battery electric vehicles, where Nikola is also
active and plans market entry in fourth quarter 2021.
    Other companies have also chosen to put fuel cell technology
second.
    Traton  8TRA.DE , the truck division of Volkswagen
 VOWG_p.DE , recently said that only the battery route had been
chosen by its MAN  MANG.DE  and Scania units.
    "Hydrogen trucks have a decisive disadvantage. Only a
quarter of the original energy goes into propulsion, three
quarters are lost through conversion," Traton CEO Matthias
Gruendler and alternative drivetrains specialist Andreas Kammel
wrote in a column in newspaper Handelsblatt.
    "With e-trucks, the ratio is the other way around," they
said.
    Traton has left the door ajar by raising its investment in
truck maker Navistar that is developing fuel cells in the
Americas.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2K11V2
    
    SUPPLIERS
    On the automotive supply front, companies are hedging their
bets.
    Bosch  ROBG.UL , a fuel cell proponent, has entered into a
joint venture with China's Qingling Motors  1122.HK  to supply
fuel cell systems for 2022/2023.
    Elringklinger  ZILGn.DE  and Mahle, too, are also working 
on fuel cell technology.
    U.S. engine maker Cummins  CMI.N , due to start building a
fuel cell system factory in Herten, Germany, later this year, 
sees no conflict.
    "Fuel cells will complement the BEV (battery electric
vehicle) system in places where energy storage, range, weight
and power requirements are unable to be met by batteries alone,"
said Amy Davis, president of New Power at Cummins.
    "That's why we are investing in the electric vehicle
drivetrain components, because we think those will be maturing
too, and they will be key to both fuel cells and batteries."

($1 = 0.8188 euros)

 (Reporting by Vera Eckert in Frankfurt and John Revill in
Zurich; Additional reporting by Nick Carey in London. Editing by
Jane Merriman)
 ((vera.eckert@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 2201 33654;
@EckertVera;))