
Hyundai says it still believes in a hydrogen future.
The statement came at a global energy gathering in Busan, Korea.
Last year Hyundai sold 93 Nexos FCEVs in the U.S.
With sales of electric vehicles still rising but not as quickly as they once rose, and with sales of hydrogen-fueled vehicles a mere blip on the sales radar, Hyundai nonetheless said it will keep pushing for a hydrogen future.
At least it said that at a global gathering in Korea yesterday called the Clean Energy Ministerial, or CEM, a forum that brings together countries, organizations, and companies to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. CEM says it’s focused on advancing clean energy policy, sharing best practices, and fostering public-private partnerships to achieve global clean energy goals.
So if Hyundai was there at all, like pretty much all attendees, it had to sound pro-green-something-or-other, and it chose hydrogen.
“Hyundai Motor Group demonstrated its global hydrogen leadership at the 16th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM16), reinforcing the Group’s commitment to advancing hydrogen innovation on an international stage,” the company said in a statement.
Hyundai currently offers the efficient Nexo crossover in California. That has only two competitors: Toyota with the Mirai and Honda the CR-V e:FCEV (a plug-in hybrid hydrogen vehicle). But sales figures for those three are limited by a number of factors, including astronomical per-unit production costs, and an extremely limited refueling infrastructure that confines most sales to California. Thus, Hyundai only sold 93 Nexos last year, Toyota 499 Mirais, and Honda’s e:FCEV just went on sale last month so there are no sales figures on that yet.

Hyundai made no mention in its release at CEM16 about any specific product plans for hydrogen-fueled vehicles at CEM16, just a general statement about its belief in hydrogen.
“As an efficient energy carrier, hydrogen plays a central role in enhancing energy resilience and driving industrial innovation,” said Ken Ramirez, head of the energy and hydrogen business division at Hyundai Motor Group. “Hyundai Motor Group is capitalizing on our broad expertise and proven heritage in hydrogen of nearly three decades to deliver real-world hydrogen-powered solutions at scale through our HTWO brand and platform. We are committed to a decarbonized society and to building a hydrogen ecosystem that drives sustainability and competitiveness.”
HTWO was established in 2024 to create and manage a zero-emission hydrogen-powered logistics for Hyundai’s manufacturing facility in Georgia. Hyundai also supports a California program called NorCAL ZERO aimed at reducing emissions at the Port of Oakland in California’s Bay Area.
Now, it’s easy to say that there is no current, scalable way to produce hydrogen without releasing C02 in the process. But last year Toyota showed off a plant that is capable of making hydrogen from methane that comes from biomass at either sewage treatment facilities or landfills.
By capturing the methane in landfills and sewage treatment facilities that would otherwise go into the atmosphere and cause more harm than vehicle or truck exhaust, the hydrogen made from such source material gets a green-hydrogen label.
There’s still a long way to go, and Hyundai made sure to point out advancements must come as public/private cooperatives, meaning tax dollars would ultimately have to help pave the way on the hydrogen highway. But it is at least theoretically possible to be clean, green, and hydrogen powered. Some day. Yesterday, Hyundai reiterated its belief in H2 as a fuel to do it.
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