Hyundai Motor Company is working hard to harness the most abundant element in the universe to reduce Earth's thermal energy emissions. The South Korean automaker announced that hydrogen will "play an important role" in the company's efforts to become carbon neutral by 2050.
"Clean hydrogen should serve everyone, power everything, and be available everywhere," Hyundai Motor Company President and CEO Jay Chang said in a statement.
As the auto industry transitions to electric vehicles, more and more companies are adopting hydrogen fuel cell technology as part of their plans to eliminate tailpipe emissions. Honda, Toyota, General Motors and Hyundai all have detailed plans to produce fuel cell vehicles, both for personal and commercial use.
Hyundai is not new to hydrogen energy. The company, which describes itself as "at the forefront of hydrogen power," has been mass-producing fuel cell electric vehicles for years. Hyundai Motor Co. said it now has "the world's highest market share in hydrogen-powered vehicle sales."
Hyundai Motor said it will use hydrogen in the passenger cars, trucks and buses it produces, as well as in trams, special equipment, ships, generators and advanced air transportation.
The company will spearhead this transition through its hydrogen fuel cell system brand HTWO, which will be first launched in 2020. Through HTWO, Hyundai Motor expects to absorb 3 million tons of hydrogen per year by 2035 for use in logistics, steel production and power generation.
Hydrogen fuel cells use compressed hydrogen as fuel and the only emission is water vapor. However, one of the biggest challenges is the lack of hydrogen charging and refueling infrastructure, especially in North America.
Although the technology has been developed for decades, there are only more than 50 hydrogen refueling stations in California, mostly concentrated in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. The East Coast is also trying to get on board, with a few hydrogen refueling stations already in operation and more planned in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Hydrogen has a low energy content by volume, which makes its storage a challenge because it requires high pressure, low temperature or chemical processes to be stored compactly. Overcoming this challenge is important for lightweight vehicles, which tend to have limited size and weight in terms of fuel storage.
Hyundai Motor has also laid the groundwork for its software development, announcing its "Software Defines Everything" strategy, which "aims to transform all mobile devices, fleets and ecosystems into valuable assets through advanced software and artificial intelligence."
Other automakers are also developing software-defined cars as they rush to compete with Tesla, which has begun defining what customers can expect from car software. Tesla's philosophy is that cars are sold with only basic hardware, with functionality largely determined by software that can be updated and improved through over-the-air upgrades.
Hyundai is the latest company to adopt this initiative. "Everything from car development to building the entire mobility ecosystem is transitioning to a software-defined approach," the company said. This involves new approaches to infotainment, including the development of app libraries and software development kits (SDKs) to allow developers to create "killer apps".
Of course, this will also include artificial intelligence. Hyundai said it will integrate a large language model into its in-car voice assistant to enable more natural interactions between the car and the driver. The company recently spent $100 million to take a stake in artificial intelligence chip maker Tenstorrent to demonstrate this commitment.