Hyundai premieres commercialized model of XCIENT Fuel Cell tractor and vision for hydrogen mobility in US

Hyundai Motor Company premiered its new XCIENT Fuel Cell tractor, the commercialized class 8 6×4 fuel cell electric model, for the North American commercial vehicle (CV) market at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo.

The company is exhibiting the XCIENT Fuel Cell tractor and the hydrogen fuel cell system at ACT Expo 2023 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California through tomorrow.

First launched in 2020, XCIENT Fuel Cell has been deployed in five countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Korea and New Zealand, and has successfully accumulated more than 4 million miles so far. The model shown at the event is the 6×4 tractor equipped with two 90 kW hydrogen fuel cell systems (total 180 kW power) and a 350 kW e-motor. Its gross combination weight is a maximum 82,000 lbs and offers a driving range of more than 450 miles per charge even when fully loaded.

XCIENT Fuel Cell implements the hydrogen fuel cell system offered by HTWO, Hyundai Motor Group’s hydrogen energy dedicated business brand. HTWO’s business includes application of Hyundai’s proprietary fuel cell systems for various forms of mobility, such as advanced air mobility, automobiles, vessels and trains, as well as for stationary power generation.

Mark Freymueller, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial Vehicle Business Innovation at Hyundai Motor, revealed the company’s plan for XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks, underlining the company’s local partnerships to form a solid hydrogen value chain as building blocks toward accelerating the deployment of clean fleets in the US.

The company aims to foster partnerships and future businesses to provide fleet operation solutions for hydrogen truck customers and expand the hydrogen value chain in the US, using its initial business entry as a bridgehead.

To that end, Hyundai Motor shared its outlook for an eco-friendly CV business incubation project at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), the dedicated electric vehicle factory being built in Georgia. The project is centered on the development of a hydrogen mobility value chain.

HMGMA will be able to produce up to 300,000 EVs annually using an innovative production platform, developed and demonstrated by the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS). Through the project, the Metaplant will incorporate an eco-friendly logistics system integrating hydrogen fuel cell trucks and a complete hydrogen value chain.

We firmly believe that hydrogen is one of the most powerful and pragmatic solutions for achieving our vision of ‘Progress for Humanity’ with emission-free mobility as a fundamental pillar for a sustainable society. Our hydrogen fuel cell technology has pioneered the industry, with a real-world proven track record of its efficiency and durability. We are leveraging these merits to further transform transportation with hydrogen energy for a broad range of mobility applications, including commercial vehicles, marine vessels and even air mobility. We now look beyond mobility toward an integrated hydrogen ecosystem, from production of hydrogen to its storage, transport and delivery. Hyundai is uniquely positioned to cover all aspects and deliver a seamless solution across the value chain.

—Ken Ramirez, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Commercial Vehicle and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Business at Hyundai Motor