• City of Copenhagen takes delivery of first 15 Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell vehicles 
• Vehicles to be used in municipal fleet, supporting city’s ‘carbon-neutral’ aim 
• ix35 Fuel Cell is world’s first assembly line-produced hydrogen-powered car 

Hyundai Motor Company has today delivered the first of its assembly line-produced ix35 Fuel Cell vehicles to the City of Copenhagen in Denmark. They were handed over by Hyundai Motor Europe during the opening ceremony of Denmark’s first hydrogen refuelling station, and are the first hydrogen-powered vehicles manufactured on a production line to be introduced in Europe.

Mr. Byung Kwon Rhim, President of Hyundai Motor Europe said, “Hyundai Motor is committed to hydrogen as the fuel of the future for Europe. Delivering assembly-line produced ix35 Fuel Cell is evidence that we have a realistic solution to the region’s sustainable mobility needs.”

The ix35 Fuel Cell produces no harmful tailpipe emissions – only water vapour – and so its use will help the city of Copenhagen achieve its aim of becoming carbon-neutral by 2025.

Since 2011, Hyundai Motor has deployed prototypes of its third-generation ix35 Fuel Cell in a wide range of initiatives to raise awareness of hydrogen’s benefits as an automotive fuel; to support the drive for establishing a pan-European refuelling infrastructure; and to demonstrate the cars’ real-world practicality to public and private organisations.

For example, EU policy-makers have access to ix35 Fuel Cell vehicles – via the EU Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) in Brussels – showing the market-readiness of Hyundai’s technology. And, earlier this year, senior representatives from 100 European businesses learned about and tested the ix35 Fuel Cell at an event in Berlin.

Hyundai Motor has been a world leader in the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology ever since research into its first fuel cell began in 1998. The company’s proprietary fuel cell technology is developed at its Eco Technology Research Institute in Korea. Hyundai intends to build 1,000 ix35 Fuel Cell cars by 2015 at its Ulsan factory.

The ix35 Fuel Cell is equipped with a 100 kW electric motor, and can reach a maximum speed of 160 km/h. Two hydrogen storage tanks, located between the vehicle’s rear axle, with a total capacity of 5.64 kg, enable the vehicle to travel a total of 594 km on a single fuelling. Filling the storage hydrogen tanks to maximum capacity takes just a few minutes.