Under the skin of Hyundai's XCIENT fuel cell truck
Up front, it's best to underline this: Hyundai's XCIENT fuel cell truck is an electric truck. It's not driven by hydrogen but by electricity from a large on-board battery. The hydrogen is the fuel that runs the on-board battery charging. The concept of hydrogen fuel cell cars and trucks is to add an emissions-free range-extender to a battery electric driveline.
Hyundai's truck is on display at the Brisbane Truck Show, and Hyundai locally is in discussions with operators in NSW, Victoria and WA to sell or lease limited numbers of the trucks into daily operations on evaluation. Hyundai's boss of future mobility and government relations, Scott Nargar, told us that some of the operators they were speaking to were keen to own the trucks in conjunction with recognition and assistance from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, which exists to support industry moves towards low emissions solutions based on renewables.
The trucks will likely be a combination of prime movers and rigids but will all feature the same spec driveline. Six hydrogen tanks each with a 31kg capacity will supply two 90kW fuel cell stacks that in turn will charge a 72kWh battery. The electric motor develops 350kW (470hp) and a thumping 2237Nm of torque, delivering that urge to the drive wheels through an Allison 4500R transmission. Based on European market testing the expected range, including regenerative braking is quoted as 'up to 400km', which would comfortably out-distance similar all-electric heavy-duty trucks now in use in WA fleets. Refuelling, with a 350bar H2 station is claimed to be between 8-20 minutes.
XCIENT FC is purely hydrogen fuelled – there is no system to top-up the battery from a charging point. As long as the battery needs charging and there is hydrogen in the tanks, the fuel cell will bubble away even when the truck is parked up.
The company is presently finishing off certification and homologation issues and will be sourcing the trucks through its New Zealand operation. That's because the Korean factory only builds the trucks in left-hand drive but converted test units have been running with the Kiwis since 2023. Hence XCIENTs for Australia will dog-leg across the Tasman. No details yet but I'm aware that Hyundai Australia is seeking local conversion opportunities until enough volume can be generated to justify some RHD production from the factory.
Hyundai has been trialling this truck in 13 countries including NZ since 2021 with about 13 million kilometres in Switzerland alone. The data accumulated suggests some significant operational and logistical advantages over purely electric drivelines, however the issue of an hydrogen infrastructure looms large. Here in WA, Woodside has started a project with WA Government support to establish an hydrogen production and refuelling facility - Hydrogen Refueller @H2Perth - in the Rockingham industrial zone. Distributing the fuel to stations elsewhere in Perth, particularly the Kewdale transport hub would seem to be a necessity.
Elsewhere, Hyundai is expanding the trial in California, where 30 hydrogen fuel cell trucks working in the ports of Oakland and Richmond to haul freight containers and vehicles will shortly be integrated into trials of fully autonomous operations.
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