Hyundai Motor delivers first batch of hydrogen trucks to Switzerland

Hyundai Motor has delivered seven Xcient Fuel Cell, the world’s first mass-produced fuel cell electric heavy-duty truck, to customers in Switzerland as it eyes global expansion.

The customers who received the first batch of Xcient Fuel Cell trucks were major Swiss retail and logistics firms, namely Coop, Migros, Travego, Galiker, Camion, Murpf, and Leclerc.

Hyundai Motor had shipped 10 Xcient Fuel Cell trucks from the Gwangyang Port, with the remaining three set for delivery to its clients by the end of the month.

The automaker, which is expanding the Xcient to North America and China, will export another 40 units to Switzerland this year.

The Xcient can run up to 400 kilometers on a single charge.

According to Lee In-cheol, executive vice president and head of the commercial vehicle division at Hyundai Motor, the delivery of the Xcient starts a new chapter in Hyundai's push for hydrogen and the global community’s use of this clean energy source.

Hyundai will provide the vehicles in Switzerland on a pay-per-use model, to reduce the initial cost burden for customers and hasten the process of establishing a foothold in Europe.

Hyundai will invest $1.3 billion to reach its goal of raising its production capacity of the Xcient Fuel Cell to 2,000 units per year by 2021, and in exporting 64,000 of the hydrogen-powered trucks by 2030.

The said $1.3 billion is in addition to the $6.4 billion it has invested in establishing a hydrogen ecosystem.