Hyundai Halts Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plans By Genesis

While Toyota has been for some time one of the leaders in hydrogen fuel cell technology, South Korean giant Hyundai hasn't been far behind so much so that it announced plans for its Genesis premium luxury brand to develop vehicles based on the technology. In parallel, Hyundai has fast become one of the leaders in the electric car space with the launch of cars like the Ioniq 5. Suddenly, now Hyundai has halted the development of hydrogen fuel-cell-based vehicles by Genesis. Its first fuel cell-based vehicle was supposedly planned for 2025 but now plans are on hold for the same thanks to marketability and technological reasons. 

Hyundai has been testing its third-generation hydrogen fuel cell platform and now while testing it has realised its performance isn't up to the mark. Genesis was being used to drive the fuel cell technology so that the cost of the platform could be brought down, however, now its plans have changed. Genesis reportedly had been developing a car based on the hydrogen powertrain for over a year. 

Genesis has launched an EV version of the GV60

Hyundai previously had reported that it had managed to shrink the powertrain by 30 percent and increased the durability and output by several measures. Hyundai has been developing cars based on the fuel cell for more than 2 decades with Santa Fe in 2001 becoming the first car based on the hydrogen fuel cell. Then in 2005, it had a Tucson based on the same technology, and most recently it had the Nexo which went on sale in 2018. 

But Hyundai's focus on the technology has not been to the same level the way it is pushing EVs via all its brands - Hyundai, IONIQ, Kia, and Genesis.