Hyundai Truck & Bus has unveiled its fuel cell tractor Xcient for the US market. The Class 8 vehicle is already available in five other countries, including Germany and Switzerland.
The Xcient FCEV, which has two 90kW hydrogen fuel cell systems and a 350kW electric motor, has a range of over 450 miles (724 km) when fully loaded, according to Hyundai.
In 2021, Hyundai announced its NorCal Zero project, which will deploy 30 Xcient FCEVs in California in the second quarter of 2023. It was said to be the largest commercial deployment of Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks in the US.
Hyundai also plans to set up a hydrogen mobility value chain in the US, including a project at the manufacturer’s EV factory in Georgia. The goal is to “incorporate an eco-friendly logistics system integrating hydrogen fuel cell trucks and a complete hydrogen value chain,” says the company.
“Together with our partners, we are making hydrogen mobility a viable solution for our customers. We go beyond the truck itself to include areas such as hydrogen refuelling and truck maintenance,” says Mark Freymueller, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial Vehicle Business Innovation at Hyundai Motor.
Hyundai already deploys the Xcient in five countries: Germany, Switzerland, Korea, New Zealand and Israel. The Swiss project was initially planned to have a fleet of up to 1,600 fuel cell trucks, but it did not take off as planned due to fluctuating energy prices.
Hyundai launched the Xcient in 2020, and the company presented a revised version about half a year later. The Xcient is considered the world’s first mass-produced hydrogen-powered electric truck for heavy-duty transport.
