Hyundai aiming for commercial fuel cells in the next decade

Hyundai started working on their first in-house fuel cell stacks only eight years ago and have worked their way up from 3hp to 134hp. They showed off their fuel cell development vehicle based on the Tuscon crossover at the Seoul Motor Show last April. It was equipped with a pair of rear-wheel-mounted 27hp electric motors, 10,000 psi compressed hydrogen storage and a claimed range of 375 miles.

Currently the the tank-to-wheel efficiency of the system is only 48 percent and hasn't met Hyundai's goal of sixty percent. Hyundai is however achieving this efficiency using ambient pressure for the stack which eliminates the need for air compressors. Their stack is also able to start up at 22° F. Hyundai wants to start producing fuel cell vehicles in volumes of about 10,000 per year by 2010 and have mass production by 2015.

[Source: Wards Auto World]