Hyundai Offers Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Plant For Electric Vehicle Racing

Race illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Morio)

JAKARTA - South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor announced its readiness to provide hydrogen fuel cell power plants in the world's first electric vehicle (EV) touring race.

In an announcement issued Friday, June 11 local time, Hyundai hopes to show the public its cutting-edge technology in hydrogen fuel cell power generation at the Electric Touring Car Racing (ETCR).

ETCR is meant to be a competition for pure electric cars. Hyundai Motor said it would join the race as a participant while providing an HTWO fuel cell power plant to help all participating teams operate their high-performance EVs.

"The ETCR event will be a testing ground for our high-performance electric car so that we can further improve the electric system in EVs. Also, we will explore new business opportunities for our fuel cell power generation system", Hyundai said in a statement Friday, June 11, reported by the Korea Times.

"It really means that the hydrogen fuel cell system will play the role of EV charging joining ETCR, the inaugural racing event for high-performance EVs", said a Hyundai official.

Hyundai Motor Fuel Cell System. (Source: Hyundai.com)

"We will continue to provide HTWO to various industries to gain a strong advantage in the hydrogen power market", the official continued. The ETCR event will be held in Vallelunga, Italy, from June 18 to 20.

Aiming to make clean energy the next growth engine, the Hyundai Motor Group is expanding its product range to EVs and fuel cell power systems.

On Thursday, the company agreed to form a fuel cell board with other conglomerates including SK, POSCO, and Hyosung to accelerate the energy transition to hydrogen power.

Hyundai has been recognized for its world-class fuel cell technology featured in the NEXO hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV).

In addition to automotive, Hyundai Motor hopes the HTWO mobile fuel cell power plant will play a major role in developing emergency electricity in remote areas, where power supplies are difficult to find.

To note, its cellular fuel cell power generation system is a 160-kilowatt power generation module that can charge two EVs simultaneously in less than an hour.