Hyundai Motor recently broke ground on $654 million hydrogen fuel cell production facility, designed to accelerate its hydrogen-powered mobility efforts for its construction equipment, commercial trucks and buses, passenger vehicles and marine vessels.
Scheduled for completion in 2027, the 462,800-square-foot facility in Ulsan, South Korea, will have an annual production capacity of 30,000 fuel cell units. It will operate under Hyundai Motor Group’s hydrogen brand and business platform, HTWO, which symbolizes ‘Hydrogen for Humanity.’
Hyundai Construction Equipment has been developing hydrogen fuel cells to power forklifts and medium- and large-sized excavators since 2020, when it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hyundai Motors and Hyundai Mobis.
The manufacturer debuted its first hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered wheeled excavator concept, the 14-ton HW155H, at Bauma 2022. The HW155H features a hydrogen fuel cell-powered driveline, providing the electrical power to operate the machine with zero tailpipe emissions.
An operational second-generation version of the machine was showcased at this year’s Bauma, touting 90 kW of power from one hydrogen fuel cell, 12 hours of runtime, 10- to 12-minute refueling times and on-road and off-road capabilities with operating speed and power comparable to diesel models.
Even larger hydrogen-powered construction machines are on the horizon for the manufacturer. As of last month, HD Hyundai Infracore started performance validation testing of its 11-liter HX12 hydrogen engine on a 38-ton excavator, calling it “a global first" for that size class of machine.
Equipment World reached out to HD Hyundai Infracore and HD Hyundai Construction Equipment for comment, but no additional information on the project was able to be shared. Below is a copy of the announcement post from HD Hyundai Infracore’s LinkedIn page:
HD Hyundai Infracore plans to strategically roll out the engines to each market. It will start mass producing hydrogen engines for trucks in early 2026, with commercial release of the hydrogen-powered vehicles in 2027. Generators and construction equipment will follow in later years.
