First Hyundai hydrogen commercial vehicles for hylane arrive in Germany
This was a key moment for Hyundai and HyLane: Beat Hirschi, CEO of Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility (HHM), and Sara Schiffer, Managing Director of HyLane GmbH (hylane), have now taken delivery of the first Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks for Germany in Bremerhaven. The first seven trucks are part of a total of 27 vehicles due to be delivered to Germany straight from the Hyundai plant in South Korea in the coming weeks. In the first phase, HyLane is taking delivery of a total of 17 trucks.
The arrival of the latest Hyundai hydrogen fuel-cell electric trucks marks a milestone in the history of mobility in Germany – with the potential to decarbonise heavy road transport. Daniel Keller (Chief Operating Officer, Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility) and Hojun Suh (Chief Strategy Officer, Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility) also travelled to Bremerhaven for the handover to the first customer in Germany.
Beat Hirschi, CEO of HHM: “This is a historic moment. Following the successful launch of the Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell truck in Switzerland, we are expanding our activities in Europe, and focusing initially on Germany. We were successful in convincing hylane to participate, a young company that shares our values and makes a real contribution to environmental protection and the decarbonisation of heavy goods transport.”
Sara Schiffer, Managing Director of hylane, commented: “The first series-production trucks form the basis for a long-term cooperation with Hyundai, which we will continuously expand from now on. We rent the vehicles out at a fixed price per kilometre, allowing our customers to use the trucks as they need and with little risk.”
All the vehicles delivered were funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport. The funding programme is coordinated by NOW GmbH.
Kurt-Christoph von Knobelsdorff, CEO of NOW added: “Commercial vehicles with hydrogen fuel-cell drive systems have great potential to make road freight transport in Germany and Europe more sustainable, especially on long-distance routes. The logistics industry is showing considerable interest in hydrogen fuel-cell trucks, so the arrival of the first vehicles from series production is very good news. NOW is pleased to congratulate hylane on this step and looks forward to continuing to support this DEVK start-up.”
First series-produced hydrogen electric trucks
The XCIENT Fuel Cell vehicles have a range of around 400 kilometres. They store the hydrogen in seven tanks, with an average refuelling time of ten minutes. The XCIENT Fuel Cell for hylane is a further development of the first series-produced H2 trucks to be used in Germany. As soon as they leave the ship, the vehicles go straight to the body-builders, where the customised versions (e.g. refrigerated or dry boxes) are configured.
More information about these trucks and about hylane can be found at www.hyundai-hm.com and www.hylane.de.
HyLane GmbH
Founded in Cologne in 2021, hylane is committed to sustainable and innovative mobility in the transport sector. To this end, hylane provides climate-compatible vehicles from various manufacturers as a usage-based rental system. Leading transport companies are already benefiting from hylane’s rental model and are gaining experience with new technologies with hardly any risk involved – because they only pay for the kilometres actually driven.
About Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility
Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility AG is a partnership between the Hyundai Motor Company and the Swiss company H2 Energy. The objective is to contribute to an environmentally friendly, sustainable future and Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility considers it a commitment to contribute to the decarbonisation of heavy transport.
About Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility Deutschland GmbH
Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility Germany GmbH (HHMG), based near Munich, was founded in 2022 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility AG. HHMG is responsible for the distribution of Hyundai’s heavy-duty fuel-cell commercial vehicles in Germany and also forms the link to the EU economic area.
National Organisation for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology
The National Organisation for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW GmbH) is a federal organisation that represents the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) and other federal ministries in the implementation and coordination of funding programmes and strategies in the field of sustainable mobility. NOW GmbH has its registered office in Berlin.