The Hyundai Motor Company has delivered the first seven of 50 XCIENT Hydrogen Fuel Cell, heavy-duty trucks due to be handed over to customers in Switzerland later this year.

The delivery marks the official entry of Hyundai’s commercial vehicles to the European market, a touchstone for the company’s expansion into the North American and Chinese commercial markets.

The XCIENT truck is powered by a 190-kW hydrogen fuel cell system with dual 95-kW fuel cell stacks. According to Hyundai, the driving range per charge is about 400km, with refuelling taking approximately 8-20 minutes.

Executive Vice President and Head of the Commercial Vehicle Division at Hyundai Motor, In Cheol Lee said, “The delivery of XCIENT Fuel Cell starts a new chapter not only for Hyundai’s hydrogen push, but also the global community’s use of hydrogen as a clean energy source. Today’s delivery is just a beginning as it opens endless possibilities for clean mobility. With the successful delivery of the first XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks, we proudly announce our plan to expand beyond Europe to North America and China where we are already making great progress.”

Production capacity of the XCIENT Fuel Cell truck will reach 2,000 units per year by 2021. The increase in capacity will be backed by a 1.3 billion-dollar investment in addition to a previously announced 6.4 billion-dollar stake in establishing a hydrogen ecosystem to support the creation of what Hyundai sees as a hydrogen-powered society.

Photo: The Hyundai XCIENT hydrogen truck in Switzerland