FirstElement Fuel and Hyundai Motor Company have partnered to drive innovation in the logistics and transport sector. The two companies are testing Hyundai Motor’s XCIENT Fuel Cell Heavy Duty trucks in California with the goal of bringing high-volume hydrogen refueling infrastructure to the heavy-duty fuel cell truck market.
The partnership involves FirstElement Fuel’s True Zero network of hydrogen refueling stations, which are used to fuel three XCIENT Fuel Cell prototypes at full 700 bar pressure. Additionally, FirstElement Fuel has developed a high-capacity mobile refueler in collaboration with Taylor-Wharton and Nikkiso, which is capable of fueling at 125 kilograms per hour. The mobile refueler is being used to support pilot programs for several other Heavy Duty FCEV OEMs.
See also: Hyundai XCIENT fuel cell heavy-duty trucks logged 5 million km in 2 years
“This program has helped FirstElement understand what we need to do to bring high-volume hydrogen refueling infrastructure for heavy duty fuel cell trucks, and now we are prepared,” said Joel Ewanick, Chairman & CEO of FirstElement Fuel. “Our partnership with Hyundai has also given us total confidence that fuel cell technology will eventually meet all the needs of the transport and logistics sector with zero emissions.”
FirstElement Fuel’s licensed drivers are piloting three Hyundai Motor’s XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks on routes throughout California, covering over 25,000 miles with zero emissions. The company has performed over 120 hydrogen fills for the XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks as part of this program. FirstElement Fuel is unique in offering the largest network of hydrogen stations in the world that are supplied by Liquid Hydrogen instead of gaseous, which is more efficient for distribution and storage of hydrogen.
See also: Hyundai Hyundai XCient hydrogen heavy duty truck to debut in Germany
Later this year, FirstElement Fuel and Hyundai Motor will launch the world’s largest commercial deployment of Class 8 hydrogen-powered fuel cell trucks in Oakland, California. The project, titled NorCAL ZERO, is jointly funded by the California Energy Commission and the California Air Resources Board and managed by the Center for Transportation and the Environment. The partnership between FirstElement Fuel and Hyundai Motor is providing valuable data and learnings that are helping inform design considerations for the NorCal ZERO project.
