Since taking over as the head of Hyundai Motor Group in June+10, last year, Eui-Sun Chung, who is in a new position, has listed hydrogen fuel cells, autonomous driving, electrification, robots and UAM (urban air traffic, flying cars) as the core plans for the future.
With the newly launched HTWO, Hyundai Group is accelerating the development of the next generation hydrogen fuel cell system, which will focus on the field of hydrogen fuel and devote itself to the transformation and development of UAM, automobiles, ships and other businesses, with higher energy density and cruising range. A spokesman for Hyundai Motor revealed that the focus of the Group's fuel cell business will be on the Korean, American, European and China markets.
From 1998 at the end of last century to now, Hyundai Motor has been committed to the research and development of hydrogen fuel cell technology and the exploration of production vehicles for more than 20 years. The world's first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicle ix35 comes from Hyundai Motor. In 20 18, Hyundai Motor introduced the hydrogen fuel cell SUV NEXO, as well as the fuel cell versions of heavy trucks and electrified buses.
Honda Clarity and Toyota Mirai have always been direct competitors of Hyundai Nexo. On February 9th, 65438, Toyota officially released the second generation Mirai fuel cell vehicle. After the redesign and development of the fuel cell stack and system, the cruising range of the new car has increased by 30%.
But it is worth mentioning that Toyota has never been favored by the mass market in fuel cell vehicles. Despite the support of the Japanese government, fuel cell vehicles are still a niche technology, and there are a series of risks behind them, such as lack of infrastructure, resale value and hydrogen explosion. As early as the end of 20 14, Toyota launched the world's first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, Mirai. Up to now, 1. 1 10,000 vehicles have been sold, which is only 0. 1% of Toyota's total sales compared with its global annual sales of about110,000 vehicles.
"After being introduced to the market, we found that the first generation hydrogen fuel system developed for automobiles had many problems, including cost, which failed to fully meet the needs of society and internal operations of the company." Maeda, chief technology officer of Toyota, admitted that the company had learned a lot from the first generation of Mirai, but the birth of the second generation of Mirai also declared that Toyota was still ahead in the field of fuel cells.
In order to improve the popularization and application of fuel cells, Toyota has made great efforts in this field in recent years. The company opened the patents related to fuel cell vehicles on 20 15 for free. It was originally planned that this policy would end at the end of 2020, but they announced the extension last year and decided to provide patents and products related to hydrogen fuel technology for free in the next 10 year.
In the field of UAM, Hyundai Group is accelerating the research and development of its flying cars, and plans to launch a more mature vehicle within ten years. Jaiwon, UAM head of the group? Shin once said in an interview that the company is developing a model that can carry five or six passengers in metropolitan areas and a large model that can fly between cities, which is expected to be put into the market in 2028.
Morgan (Morgan? Stanley) analysts have predicted that with the maturity of UAM-related technologies, by 2040, the global scale of this field will reach or will reach 2.9 trillion US dollars, even the most pessimistic estimate is 6 15 billion US dollars.
Regulators in the aviation field need to solve many problems in the next few years, such as optimizing the access of pilot licenses and how to eliminate or minimize the probability of safety accidents. Of course, new rules and infrastructure construction also need to keep up to ensure that the interference of ground vehicles on aircraft is minimized.
Of course, companies like Airbus, Boeing and Lilium are also rushing to the UAW market, but according to Jaiwon? According to the information, the advantages of Hyundai Group in this field will benefit from the global sales network and logistics. At this stage, they have established a relatively mature subsidiary, which can provide services and help build the infrastructure of the Airbus ecosystem.
In addition, compared with aircraft manufacturers, automobile manufacturers have mass production experience. Usually, Airbus and Boeing deliver less than 65,438+0,000 aircraft each year, but automobile manufacturers can earn high profits by reducing costs and mass production. It is reported that the global output of UAM-related products may reach hundreds of thousands in the future, and automobile manufacturers will have their natural advantages in this field. We don't want to be the first to enter the market? Saihara? But they want to be the first company with the right products, Shin added.
Text/North Shore
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