Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2023 - 28

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT
Hyundai's fuel-cell dreams remain Xcient
Compared to the fourth- or fifth-generation
production batteries found in
EVs, per Zeilinger's reckoning, or the
century-long effort to improve the internal-combustion
engine, hydrogen
fuel cells are relative infants despite
decades of lab work. Fuel-cell technology
now is getting out into the real
world where lessons are learned and
supply chains get built.
" What I'm saying is that it's a relatively
young industry, " he said. " With
the volume going up, there will be
more integration, there will be more
technology, there will be significant
cost decreases. "
U.S.-bound Xcients
Hyundai now has some real-world data
to better refine how it deploys H2
Hyundai is about to bring a fleet of hydrogen-powered 6x4 Xcient Fuel Cell Class 8 tractors to the
U.S. It displayed one at this year's ACT Expo.
Hyundai's fuel-cell truck fleet is growing.
The company is about to bring a
fleet of hydrogen-powered 6x4 Xcient
Fuel Cell Class 8 tractors to the U.S. It
displayed one of the large cabs at this
year's ACT Expo in Anaheim, California,
alongside even larger ambitions for hydrogen
mobility. Hyundai sees this as
the key moment when its focus shifts
from developing the truck to shifting to
developing the hydrogen infrastructure
and fuel supply.
The H2
tractor at ACT was the latest
step in a multi-year plan to expand the
number of Xcients used worldwide, following
the establishment of Hyundai's
HTwo brand to promote its 20-plus
years of hydrogen research. Heavy-duty
trucks - and the partnerships to make
them operational - are an increasing
part of that project.
In 2021, Hyundai announced it would
deliver 30 Xcient semis to the Port of
Oakland through the NorCAL Zero project.
Before the trucks could get to work,
though, Hyundai had to find partners.
First Element Fuel set up a refueling
infrastructure, for example, and Glovis
28 June 2023
America is the actual fleet operator.
There was plenty of government help,
too, according to Mark Freymueller, head
of commercial vehicle business innovation
at Hyundai Motor Co.
" The whole NorCAL project, with all
the support from the government -
from [the California Air Resources
Board] to Alameda County - that gets
us roughly to diesel parity for the operation
cost, " he said.
Hyundai can now focus on deploying
the trucks after decades of developing
fuel-cell technology. According
to Martin Zeilinger, head of Hyundai
Motor's commercial vehicle development,
a walkthrough of the ACT Expo
show floor was an easy way to see
how far fuel-cell systems have come in
recent years. Hyundai's second-generation,
mass-production fuel-cell vehicle
(FCV), the Nexo, was launched in
2018. The Nexo's fuel-cell system is
much better integrated than the firstgeneration
system found in the Tucson
FCV launched in 2013. It's powerful
enough that a doubled-up version
powers the Xcient.
trucks
in the future. Hyundai currently has between
100 and 150 Xcient trucks that
have collectively driven more than 4
million miles in operations with various
partners in five countries: Germany,
Switzerland, Israel, South Korea and
New Zealand. Up next, the U.S.
Hyundai always planned to deliver
the trucks in 2023 and said in Anaheim
that the first North America-specific
Xcients were on track for June. The
general cab-over design remains the
same between the U.S.-bound Xcients
and those used elsewhere. Parts of the
powertrain are similar, too, such as the
two fuel-cell stacks that work together
in one system to power Hyundai's commercial-vehicle
lineup. In the U.S.
Xcients, these stacks each produce 90
kW, for a total output of 180 kW.
Overseas Xcients use two 95-kW stacks
and have 190 kW of total power.
A 72-kWh battery might seem large
when there's an onboard fuel-cell system
that can generate electricity as
needed. But fuel cells are most efficient
when operated in a constant manner,
Zeilinger said. If the vehicle were to regulate
the stack's operation by speed, it
would create regular transient periods
of higher or lower demand. Instead, the
battery fills in the gaps both when extra
energy is needed to accelerate and
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
SAE/SEBASTIAN BLANCO

Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2023

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