Hyundai's XCIENT Fuel Cell has landed on NZ soil

The new truck is road-ready, and with a reliable hydrogen supply on tap through Ports of Auckland, it was able to be driven to Hyundai NZ’s Mt Wellington headquarters, Hyundai NZ says.  

This is the first of five trucks that will be seen on the nation’s roads next year running freight across the country in a real-world demonstration within commercial fleets.   

New Zealand is the second market outside Korea to commence a multiple truck programme. The XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks in Switzerland are in commercial operation. Their fleet has now exceeded more than two million kilometres of regular commercial service.  

The XCIENT Fuel Cell truck has a manufacturer gross vehicle weight (GVW) of 28 tonnes and a combined gross combination weight of 42 tonnes. It will operate lower than this here due to New Zealand road weight limitations.   

Hyundai New Zealand, a New Zealand-owned company, has secured the trucks from Hyundai Motor Company, with the help of funding from ECCA, to put them into a working demonstration programme. The aim is to speed up adoption by helping industry, Government, and the public grow in confidence to use hydrogen-powered trucks.  

The trucks will be introduced into an on-road (in-service) demonstration programme with specialists in heavy vehicle transport and road transport logistics. Those partners are still to be confirmed.  

"They will be fuelled by our own hydrogen refueller until the first group of hydrogen refuelling stations are available, which are well underway," says Hyundai NZ.  

The XCIENT is powered by a 350kW electric motor with 2237Nm of torque. Driving energy is provided by a 180kW hydrogen Fuel Cell system with dual 90kW Fuel Cell stacks combined with a 72kWh battery. Seven tanks make a combined storage capacity of about 32.09kg of hydrogen. The range is about 400km – the driving distance between Auckland and Palmerston North.  

"The arrival is an exciting milestone. New Zealand is now at the forefront of international efforts to shift heavy vehicle transport to zero-emission formats. Each XCIENT Fuel Cell vehicle on our road in place of a diesel truck will save *50 tonnes of C02 per year from being emitted into our environment."   

*Based on 80,000km per annum 

Note: The location of the tanks in the images are for transport position only. Once in operation, they are located in a vertical position behind the cab. 

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