Hyundai Motor Group will push for cooperative projects with SK Group that include supplying 1,500 hydrogen electric vehicles, establishing hydrogen and high-speed electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and promoting the establishment of the Korean version of the K-Hydrogen Council.
Hyundai Motor Group and SK Group held a meeting at SK Incheon Petrochemical Co. in Incheon on March 2 to meet with key executives of both groups and discuss ways to expand the hydrogen ecosystem before attending the 3rd Hydrogen Economy Committee presided over by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun.
Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, Hyundai Motor CEO Gong Young-woun, Hyundai Mobis CEO Cho Sung-hwan, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, SK Corp. CEO Jang Dong-hyun, SK E&S CEO Choo Hyung-wook and SK Incheon Petrochemical CEO Choi Yoon-seok attended.
The two companies agreed that hydrogen, which is clean energy, is an essential factor in achieving carbon neutrality to implement a sustainable society, and held talks on the same day to actively explore areas of cooperation where business synergy can be created between the two groups.
In order to expand supply of hydrogen electric vehicles in the future, they plan to find various business models. First of all, 1,500 vehicles operated at SK Group's operations will be gradually converted to hydrogen electric vehicles produced by Hyundai Motor.
Hyundai Motor Group will provide hydrogen commercial vehicles such as hydrogen cargo trucks (scheduled for 2022) and hydrogen tractors (scheduled for 2024) and discussed ways to use them.
They are also working hard to establish charging infrastructure for hydrogen and high-speed electric vehicles. By the end of 2021, one hydrogen charging station for commercial vehicles will be installed at SK's Truck House, a logistics service hub in Incheon/Ulsan, and detailed cooperation plans to install hydrogen charging stations at SK gas stations nationwide will also be continued.
In addition, they plan to cooperate to expand charging infrastructure for eco-friendly cars by discussing ways to install fast chargers (200 kW class) for electric vehicles at SK gas stations.
They will push for the establishment of the "K-Hydrogen Council," a consultative body for CEOs to cooperate in hydrogen business between domestic companies, in the first half of the year with POSCO Group.
The Korean version of the Hydrogen Commission is expected to play a variety of roles to drive the realization of a hydrogen society through strengthening the capacity of domestic companies' hydrogen businesses and expanding their business areas.
Hyundai Motor Group has been closely cooperating with SK Group in the eco-friendly vehicle sector by selecting SK Innovation as the primary battery supplier for Hyundai Motor and Kia's electric vehicle platform called 'E-GMP (Electric-Global Modular Platform)'.
SK Group also announced in December last year that it would launch a hydrogen business promotion team under its plan to intensively foster hydrogen businesses with next-generation energy and build a hydrogen ecosystem by promoting hydrogen businesses in Korea and entering global markets.
Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun said, "We expect hydrogen to serve as an energy currency in the carbon neutral era as it can be used not only as an energy source but also as a storage of energy."
