Hyundai Motor Group announced this week it will invest $6.7 billion in hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) production facilities.
The South Korean car maker will drastically boost its annual fuel-cell systems production capacity to 700,000 units by 2030 and explore new business opportunities to supply its fuel-cell systems to other transportation manufacturers of automobiles, drones, vessels, rolling stocks and forklifts.
Called the “FCEV Vision 2030” plan, the initiative is expected to create approximately 51,000 jobs by 2030.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to secure a 500,000-units-a–year FCEV production capacity by 2030, including passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles, in anticipation of high demand for global FCEVs expanding to around 2million units a year within that timeframe.
As the first step to fulfill the ‘FCEV Vision 2030’, HMG’s fuel-cell system manufacturing affiliate Hyundai Mobis Co. today held a groundbreaking ceremony for its second fuel-cell system plant in Chungju, South Korea. The second factory will help Mobis increase annual fuel-cell system output to 40,000 units by 2022, up from the current 3,000 units.
With high energy density and ease of stack refueling, hydrogen would help reduce the comprehensive ownership costs by about 10 percent for all possible transportation means including rolling stocks, vessels and forklifts, according to a study by McKinsey & Company. The study also estimates that approximately 5.5 million~6.5 million fuel cell system units will be required by 2030 globally.
Hyundai Motor Group is the parent company of South Korea’s two biggest carmakers, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors.
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