Hyundai Motor Group has signed an agreement with the government of Guangdong Province to build a fuel cell system production facility in Guangzhou, China.
Construction is scheduled to begin next month and will be completed by the second half of 2022.
The plant will be Hyundai’s first fuel cell production base outside of South Korea, with an initial capacity to make 6,500 units of fuel cell systems a year.
At the new plant, Hyundai will manufacture the same systems that are used for its Nexo fuel cell electric SUV.
Hyundai will also work with Chinese companies participating in the Guangdong government’s hydrogen-related pilot project and initiatives.
In October 2020 the China Society of Automotive Engineers released a technology roadmap under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The roadmap states that the country aims to have 1 million fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) on its roads by 2035, with the focus on commercial vehicles.
In December 2018, Hyundai announced its own long-term roadmap, ‘Fuel Cell Vision 2030’, reaffirming its commitment to accelerate the development of a hydrogen society.
As part of the plan, Hyundai aims to produce 700,000 fuel cells annually to meet demand from various industry sectors.
Hyundai introduced the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell electric vehicle, the ix35, in 2013, followed by the second-generation Nexo, in 2018.
It also delivered the first seven Xcient trucks – the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell electric heavy-duty truck – to customers in Switzerland in late 2020.
