Hydrogen-powered Hyundai Staria fuel cell EV arrives in 2023 [Update]

Hyundai Motor Group is focusing on the needs of the environment. Unlike its European and American rivals, Hyundai Motor Group will not only produce battery EVs in the future but hydrogen-powered fuel cell EVs as well. One of these new FCEVs is the Hyundai Staria FCEV, which will be released to the public in the future.

The Staria is a futuristic-looking minivan. But there’s a clear purpose to its look. It will employ one of the company’s most technologically advanced powertrains in the future. We’re talking about the third-generation fuel cell system, the successor to the Hyundai Nexo’s fuel cell stack.

HMG unveiled a new prototype of its third-generation fuel cell stack at the Hydrogen Wave online global forum in early September. The company displayed two versions of the next-gen stack: 100 kW and 200 kW.

The 100 kW version is 30% smaller than the Nexo’s fuel cell stack, which leads to improved vehicle packaging. The 200 kW version is almost the same in size but offers twice the output. HMG plans to use the bigger version in commercial trucks, and it says that it can provide around 350 kW by using two systems per truck.

Saehoon Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Fuel Cell Center, Hyundai Motor Group, said that Hyundai is working on the third generation of fuel-cell stacks that will be more refined by the time they are mass-produced. The Hyundai Staria Fuel Cell should get the 100 kW version, just like the new Hyundai Nexo.

In its 2021 Munich Motor Show (IAA 2021) announcement, Hyundai said that it will launch the hydrogen-powered Hyundai Staria Fuel Cell in the second half of 2023. The company plans to launch the new Hyundai Nexo the same year followed by a large unnamed hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric SUV after 2025.

Hyundai Staria Hybrid & Hyundai Staria EV

In an interview in April 2021, Yoon-su Kim, Vice President of Domestic Marketing Department, Hyundai, confirmed that a Hyundai Staria Hybrid is in the works, as per a report from Motorgraph. In the same interview, Heung-Soo Kim, the head of Hyundai Motor Group’s Product Divison, confirmed that there’s no plan to launch a Staria BEV.

Hyundai Mobis & Shell supporting hydrogen FCEV line-up expansion

With Hyundai planning to expand its hydrogen FCEV portfolio in the coming years, the demand for fuel cell stacks and related components will go up. Hyundai Mobis is preparing to meet the increasing demand by opening two new fuel cell plants in South Korea. Currently, the company has one fuel cell plant in the country, located in Chungju, a facility that can produce roughly 23,000 hydrogen cell systems annually.

One of the new factories, located in Incheon, will make hydrogen fuel cell stacks. Hyundai Mobis held this facility’s groundbreaking ceremony on October 7, 2021. The other new factory, located in Ulsan, will assemble the fuel cell stack with other components to make fuel cell systems. Production at both the new facilities will begin in the second half of 2023.

Project Neptune

On a related note, Hyundai will launch more hydrogen FCEVs in the U.S. The company has committed to improving hydrogen FCEV sales to Shell as part of an agreement called Project Neptune. This agreement supports Shell’s plan of building 48 new hydrogen refueling stations and upgrading two existing outlets in California.

Featured Image Source: YouTube/HyundaiWorldwide