(NAT) HYUNDAI SUPERNAL H2

Hyundai has already made it very clear that it's making a serious play at next-gen electric aviation, establishing its own eVTOL subsidiary Supernal late last year and promising to flex its automotive-grade manufacturing muscle to get air taxis built in bulk.

Now, the company has made a presentation at the Vertical Flight Society's H2 Aero workshop to confirm that it's also bringing its hydrogen expertise into the aviation world.

Hyundai/Kia and Toyota, of course, have been the two main hydrogen fuel cell stalwarts in the automotive industry. Batteries make more sense for most passenger car applications globally, but Japan and Korea are committed to building a "hydrogen economy" powering much more than personal transport, so these companies in particular have persisted with building and selling relatively small numbers of fuel cell-electric cars like the Nexo and Mirai.

That means they've got full hydrogen powertrains designed, manufactured in the tens of thousands of units, and fully crash tested to meet automotive safety certification standards in multiple countries – an excellent head start, you might say, if you're interested in rolling that expertise out into the aviation market. And that's definitely an avenue Hyundai is looking to work through Supernal.

"We're here to stay, and we want to be a prominent player in the aviation market," Supernal Senior Manager Yesh Premkumar told attendees at the H2 Aero workshop in Long Beach last week. "I don't think when you talk about aviation, the first name that comes to mind is Hyundai. So one of the primary focuses for us to be here today is to allow you all to understand that we are looking to partner in all the areas that we are good at.

There are lots of things about aviation that we need to learn and understand, and a lot of folks in this room have that understanding. There are capabilities that we bring that we'd like to lend to the knowledge that exists here. So we want to foster that in bilateral partnerships as much as possible – all of it, from the aircraft, to the ecosystem, to the infrastructure, to operation, all the way down to city planning." New Atlas - link - the brilliant Loz Blain - link - more like this - link

(AUC) HYUNDAI'S £12 BILLION EV STRATEGY

New Ioniq 7 will arrive in 2024 as one of the last cars on current E-GMP platform

Hyundai will introduce the second generation of its E-GMP electric vehicle architecture in 2025, which will bring standardised battery and motor systems with a view to reducing manufacturing costs.

The new Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA) will be used for both passenger and 'purpose-built' commercial vehicles and is promised to improve driving range over the current E-GMP platform, used by the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and Genesis GV60.

It will replace the E-GMP's variable battery packs with standardised cell-to-pack units, which can be 'flexibly' integrated according to the vehicle's needs. This construction method boosts energy density, Hyundai claims, and thus charging times.

The new platform was detailed as part of Hyundai's Investor Day presentation, at which the company outlined an ambitious £12 billion strategy to increase its annual EV sales to 1.87 million units, equating to a 7% market share, by 2030. Previously, the company said it planned to be selling 560,000 EVs by 2025.

The plan has three key tenets: "strengthening BEV line-ups, optimising manufacturing capacity and securing hardware and software competitiveness."

As well as ushering in a new EV platform, Hyundai said it will introduce 17 battery-electric cars – of which 11 will be badged Hyundai and six from luxury brand Genesis – in the next eight years.

Three of the Hyundai EVs will be saloon cars (one of which is the upcoming 2022 Ioniq 6), six will be SUVs, one will be a light commercial vehicle and another will be a "new type model" - with no further details given as to its positioning. The Hyundai Ioniq 7, a large flagship SUV, has been confirmed for a 2024 launch.

Genesis, meanwhile, will launch two low-slung cars and four SUVs, beginning with the Electrified GV70 later this year. The brand will launch only pure-electric cars from 2025. Autocar - link - Felix Page - link - more like this - link

(H2V) HYUNDAI ADDING H2 FUELLING TO MACQUARIE PARK HQ

$1.7m hydrogen station to be developed at Hyundai Australia’s HQ

Hyundai Motor Company Australia is investing $1.7m in a new state-of-the-art hydrogen station to support fuel cell electric vehicles at its corporate headquarters in Macquarie Park.

The new station will be supplied by US-based PDC Machines and will produce up to 20kg of hydrogen daily, offering a 700 bar refuelling capability.

Australian gas technology company ENGV will also help develop the site, providing local integration, installation and ongoing operational services.

Once operational, the new station will replace the company’s existing hydrogen station, which has been operational since 2014.


With faster refuelling capabilities, the new site will enable the Hyundai Nexo vehicle to travel up to 666km on a single tank of fuel, with a refuelling time of less than five minutes.

Ted Lee, CEO of Hyundai Motor Company Australia, said, “This investment forms part of Hyundai’s long-term commitment to a zero-emission future for Australia.

“Hydrogen fuel cell mobility is anticipated to play an integral role in the country’s transition to cleaner drivetrains and we intend to help lay the stepping-stones toward making this vision a reality.”

Sean Blythe, CEO of ENGV, added, “We are excited to bring our hands-on experience developing hydrogen refuelling infrastructure across Australia to the HMCA project. H2VIEW - link - Molly Burgess - link - Macquarie Park - link - more like this - link - more like this (Australia) - link

(CNB) H2 VERSIONS OF ALL HYUNDAI TRUCKS BY 2028

The Hyundai Xcient Fuel Cell truck on display during the 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center on November 5, 2020 in Shanghai, China.-Zhang Hengwei | China News Service | Getty Images

The Hyundai Motor Group plans to develop hydrogen fuel cell versions of all its commercial vehicle models by the year 2028, with the firm also looking to introduce a “next generation fuel-cell system” in 2023.

In an announcement Tuesday, the South Korean automotive giant said its goal was to “achieve a fuel cell vehicle price point comparable to a battery electric vehicle by 2030.” This ambition applies to both passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

The Seoul-headquartered group has decades of experience in the sector, having developed its first fuel-cell electric vehicle in 1998. More recently, it launched the XCIENT Fuel Cell, a heavy-duty truck, in 2020. A fuel-cell SUV, the NEXO, was launched in 2018.

On the fuel-cell front, Hyundai said its next generation system would come in 100 kilowatt and 200 kilowatt versions “with costs being lowered by more than 50%, total package volume reduced by 30% and power output doubled.” - link - Anmar Frangoul - link - more like this - link

(REU) GM & HYUNDAI LINK FIRES TO LG BATTERIES

Aug 27 (Reuters) - Shares of Korean battery maker LG Chem (051910.KS) slid to a nine-month low on Friday as investors digested reports linking fires in General Motors Co (GM.N) and Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) vehicles to LG batteries from at least two Asia plants.

Documents filed by GM and Hyundai with the U.S. safety regulator show how the two automakers separately identified the same cause of battery fires in their newest electric vehicles, tracing them to similar manufacturing defects in battery cells made at at least two plants operated by a unit of LG Chem - link - more like this - link