UK to get World's First Full Production Fuel Cell Vehicle Hyundai ix35

The much awaited Zero Emission hydrogen powered Hyundai ix35 has now arrived the UK, and five models of the vehicle will be available in London by 2015 as per the London Hydrogen Network Expansion (LHNE) project.

Hyundai Motor, as a supplier to the LHNE project, will join the existing consortium of companies with expertise in hydrogen transport infrastructure and operation, working to establish the UK’s first hydrogen transport network covering London and south east England. The LHNE project, a government-backed initiative co-funded by the Technology Strategy Board, will put hydrogen-fuelled vehicles into daily business use and deliver the refuelling infrastructure to support their operation. 

These fuel cell vehicles will be leased to key public and private fleet users in the capital. They are among the first of 1,000 examples that Hyundai has committed to produce between now and 2015 and are built on the same production line, in Ulsan, Korea, as the Tucson.

The majority of those 1,000 cars will be available in Europe where the European Commission has established a number of schemes, such as the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), to promote the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier with zero carbon content. 

With various hydrogen projects concentrating on establishing hydrogen infrastructure in Europe, the timing is right for hydrogen-powered vehicles to accelerate the project.

As the first car company in the world to assembly line-produce fuel cell vehicles, Hyundai has enabled not just the real start of Europe’s Hydrogen Roadmap but also accelerated London’s plans to become one of the major hydrogen capitals of the world. 

For Hyundai, the philosophy behind the ix35 Fuel Cell project has been to produce a car that offers the same practicality, safety levels and driving experience as an ix35 driven by an internal combustion engine, but with zero tailpipe emissions. That means comparable performance – 100mph maximum, 0-100kmph in 12.5 seconds and a range of almost 370 miles from each tank – but with no emissions: the only emission is water.