Many decades ago, hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) were head-to-head as potential alternatives to petrol-powered cars. It was even presumed that hydrogen would become the fuel of the future, and BEVs would remain confined to a ‘short-range urban cars niche.’ In the end, BEVs won the race, leaving FCEVs in the dust.
In 2019, approximately 330,000 plug-in EVs were sold in the US, while only 8,000 FCEVs sold. But Britain’s richest man, Jim Ratcliffe, has big plans to change those statistics and see hydrogen cars become mainstream. Ineos Group, his multinational chemicals company, is teaming up with Hyundai Motors to give the FCEV sector a good boost.
Peter Williams, Ineos Chief Technology Officer, said in an interview, “There’s verbiage, and there’s getting on and doing stuff. We would like to do something of serious scale in the next five years.”
Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, oil products, and specialty chemicals, while Hyundai is the world’s second-largest producer of FCEVs, second only to Toyota Motors. Ineos plans to produce and supply hydrogen to Hyundai, which has been manufacturing fuel cell vehicles since 2013. The company already outputs 300,000 tons of hydrogen annually as a byproduct from the electrolysis of brine to make chlorine. At the moment, it uses it for fuel and in the desulfurization at refineries.
Ratcliffe also has plans to manufacture a Land Rover-like sport utility vehicle next year called Grenadier, which will run off petrol at first but eventually Hyundai’s fuel cell system. Ineos helping to kick-start the hydrogen economy would help with that endeavor.
There are a growing number of targets being set worldwide to phase out ICUs and decarbonize industrial production. Many experts see FCEVs playing a crucial role in this transition alongside BEVs.
And while the rise of BEVs has cast some doubt on FCEVs’ future, Hyundai still sees enormous potential in their technical advantages. FCEVs run much cleaner than internal-combustion engines (ICUs), take a much shorter time to refuel or recharge like batteries, and offer greater driving range. For a full breakdown of how fuel cells stack up against lithium-ion batteries on efficiency, cost, and infrastructure, see our hydrogen fuel cell vs. lithium-ion battery comparison.
Williams said, “Clearly, Hyundai wants to see its fuel-cell technology used globally. They set up a business, and they want to grow it and get into Europe and probably the U.S. as well.”
The South Korean carmaker aims to capture 15% of the hydrogen-fueled truck market in Europe—primarily Germany and the Netherlands—by the end of the decade. It started shipping such trucks to Switzerland earlier this year with plans to deliver 1,600 units by 2025.
