Hyundai Motor exports hydrogen vehicles to Middle East for first time

Hyundai Motor said Monday it had exported four fuel cell electric vehicles to Saudi Arabia, its first-ever FCEV exports to the Middle East.

According to South Korea’s largest automaker, it shipped two Nexo FCEVs and two Elec City fuel cell electric buses from Ulsan on Sunday. After arriving in Saudi Arabia, the four FCEVs will be delivered to Saudi Aramco, the country’s state-run oil firm.

“Exporting FCEVs to the world’s top oil producer Saudi Arabia is a meaningful step and we will make efforts to expand the supply of FCEVs in the Middle East,” said Hyundai Motor Vice President of the Middle East and African region Jeong Bang-sun.

Hyundai Motor and Saudi Aramco signed a memorandum of understanding in June last year to roll out more FCEVs in Saudi Arabia. Hyundai’s four FCEVs will be used for test drives to verify their economic feasibility.

The company says Saudi Arabia is the first country it has exported Elec City FCEVs to. Nexo and Elec City vehicles can run about 609 kilometers and 430 kilometers, respectively, on a single charge.

Hyundai has been making strides in the hydrogen business, exporting fuel cells to two non-automotive companies in Europe this month and Xcient fuel cell electric trucks to Switzerland in July.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)