Kia and Hyundai Enter New Agreement with Next Hydrogen

Kia Corp and the Hyundai Motor Group have been very busy with their flying car hailing service. After the initial wave of the pandemic in 2020, Kia Corp and Hyundai started to focus on purpose-built vehicles (PBVs). The other plan was to focus more on electric vehicles (EVs), and although Kia keeps releasing new EVs, like the Kia EV6 and upcoming Kia EV8 .We haven’t heard much about PBVs but the two groups have been working on one other plan in the making – a fleet of aircrafts people can hail versus a car. Last month, June 2021, Kia and Hyundai went into an agreement with ANRA Technologies, a company focused on airspace solutions. Now to keep moving forward, Hyundai, Kia, and Next Hydrogen for multiple hydrogen fuel cell solutions, including urban air mobility (UAM).

“Next Hydrogen’s innovative water electrolysis stack design technology is an ideal solution for enabling the economical production of green hydrogen…We are extremely appreciative of the opportunity to work with Kia and Hyundai Motor, given their industry leadership as champions of this technology. This partnership is expected to accelerate efforts to address the incredible emerging opportunities in sustainable transportation globally.” – Raveel Afzaal, President and CEO of Next Hydrogen

The Next Hydrogen Corporation is a Canadian company specializing in water electrolysis technology, with efforts on working towards a global hydrogen society through cost-effective production of clean hydrogen. At the moment, producing hydrogen is expensive, and the three companies are working on a new stack for hydrogen production. It’s all in the name of HTWO, a new brand revealed by the Hyundai Motor Group. This group is designed to be the world-leading hydrogen fuel cell system. With the help of Next Hydrogen, the goal is to develop the next-generation hydrogen fuel cell system that will be able to power various forms of mobility – automobiles, vessels, trains, and beyond.

So, what is a “stack”? The term has popped up quite a bit so far. When it comes to producing hydrogen, many companies use what is called an “Electrolyzer Stack”. The simplest way to get a hold of hydrogen is through a method known as “electrolysis”, which as the name implies, makes use of electricity. With the help of an electrolyzer, companies can produce hydrogen and oxygen from regular good ol’ water by applying an electrical current to the fluid. The electrolyzer makes use of this electrochemical reaction to separate the oxygen and hydrogen molecules to deconstruct water. We’re then left with two gases, one of which is already used in internal gas combustion engines – oxygen. The hydrogen can then be utilized to power an entire fuel cell stack – kind of like how electricity powers a battery cell. See where this is going?

With the current semiconductor chip shortage, producing electric vehicles is starting to hit a tipping point. Until things get back to normal, which may never be the case, automakers are looking into other avenues to keep afloat and produce green vehicles. The process sounds simple, but if it was, everyone would have a hydrogen-powered car by now. That’s why Kia, Hyundai Motor, and Next Hydrogen are working towards the next new hydrogen fuel cell stack.Want to stay on top of news from Kia and Hyundai Motor? Follow us on Miami Lakes Automall Kia social media .

Photo Source/Copyright: Unsplash/Terry Vlisidis

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