Kia Motors to join Clean Energy Partnership

Kia Motors has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) to promote fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and the establishment of supporting infrastructure in Europe. The initial agreement was inked in Seoul, South Korea, with Hyun Soon Lee, head of research and development at Hyundai-Kia, Klaus Bonhoff, managing director of NOW GmbH, and Patrick Schnell, chairman of the Clean Energy Partnership, in attendance.

Kia intends to join the Clean Energy Partnership by the end of 2011, but some details regarding the automaker's level of involvement must be worked out before the agreement becomes official.

Both Hyundai and Kia are established players in the automotive fuel cell vehicle segment. Last January, Kia announced that a test fleet of FCEVs would hit the road in Europe and Hyundai reportedly remains on track to release its fuel cell vehicle to the public in 2012.

[Source: Green Car Congress]