Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. will be the first automotive company to make hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles available to the Canadian public.
The Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) will be available to Canadians on a three year lease beginning in early 2015 in the Vancouver area.
Don Romano, president and CEO of Hyundai Auto Canada Corp., said, “The challenge facing this technology has always been characterized by a chicken-and-egg scenario, where car companies won’t bring fuel cell vehicles to market without an infrastructure and there is no need for a refueling industry without customers. It’s time to move beyond simply talking about the opportunity. Hyundai was the first to mass-produce fuel cell electric vehicles and will be the first to bring them to Canadian customers. We’re planting the seed for a new segment of the industry.”
The Hyundai Tucson FCEV stores hydrogen gas and draws an inflow of air to the fuel cell stack. There is no combustion of hydrogen and the stack has no moving parts. The electrochemical process of combining oxygen and hydrogen in the fuel cell stack creates electricity to power the vehicle’s electric motor and charge an onboard battery. The only by-product of the process is pure water vapor, resulting in zero greenhouse-gas emissions.
The Hyundai Tucson FCEV takes less than 5 minutes to refuel and has an estimated range of 265 miles; both are comparable to the existing gasoline-powered Tucson and eliminate the range anxiety or recharge-time compromises of battery electric vehicles. The Tucson FCEV has also undergone extensive crash, fire and leak testing. Further, cold weather has proven to have minimal effects to the Tucson FCEV driving range when compared to battery electric vehicles.
To introduce the new Tucson FCEV to the Canadian market, a select group of Canadians will have the exclusive opportunity to lease the vehicle at $599 per month over a 3 year term. The lease includes maintenance and unlimited refueling.
In addition, Tucson FCEV owners will enjoy an “At Your Service” valet program. Based on the company’s full-size Equus premium sedan program launched in 2010, should a Tucson FCEV require any service, a Hyundai dealer will pick up the vehicle and provide a loaner hybrid vehicle, then return it after service is complete to their home or business, at no charge.
Hyundai is also working with the Canadian government at all levels and the fuel industry to make fuel cell vehicles not only more affordable, but accessible by realizing a vision for a nation-wide infrastructure of hydrogen refueling stations.
Published in the January 2015 Edition of American Recycler News
