Autonomous fuel cell truck from Hyundai and Plus.

Commercial vehicles Autonomous fuel cell truck from Hyundai and Plus

2024-05-31 From Thomas Günnel | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

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Hyundai and the developer of autonomous driving systems, Plus, have introduced a heavy-duty truck. It drives autonomously and refuels with hydrogen.

Hyundai and Plus are testing an autonomous, heavy-duty fuel cell truck.(Image: Hyundai) — Hyundai and Plus are testing an autonomous, heavy-duty fuel cell truck.
(Image: Hyundai)

Hyundai and Plus presented a hydrogen fuel cell-powered, heavy-duty truck capable of Level 4 autonomous driving according to SAE standards at the "Advanced Clean Transportation" trade show in Las Vegas.

The companies are testing the autonomous "Xcient Fuel Cell" in the USA. According to Hyundai, it is the first fuel cell truck to achieve Level 4 autonomy. In early May, Daimler Truck also introduced a prototyp of a battery-powered, autonomously driving E-Cascadia in the USA.

The technology behind the autonomous driving is called "SuperDrive" by Plus. The system uses lidar, radar, and cameras for environmental perception, route planning, and prediction. The system is already in use in the USA, Europe, and Australia.

Fuel cell trucks have been in use in Switzerland since 2020

Hyundai Motor introduced the fuel cell truck Xcient in 2020. It is commercially used in eight countries. The best-known project is probably the one in Switzerland. There, Hyundai has been testing the use of fuel cell trucks with partners in daily use since 2020.

What do the axle combinations mean?

The axle configuration indicates how many wheels a commercial vehicle has in total, how many of them are driven and how many are steered. "4x2" means: Four wheels in total (twin wheels are counted as one wheel), two of which are driven. The standard configuration assumes a steered front axle. A 6x4/4 configuration would mean: six wheels, four driven, four steered.

At the Advanced Clean Transportation last year, Hyundai introduced the commercial version of the Xcient Fuel Cell tractor unit. The 6x4 fuel cell truck is powered by an electric motor with 360 kilowatt output.

Two fuel cell modules each produce 90 kilowatts. According to Hyundai, the truck has a range of over 450 miles per charge, approximately 720 kilometers, when fully loaded.

First ready-for-series-production autonomous truck

Volvo introduced the first production-ready, autonomously driving truck at the trade fair. The heavy truck was developed in collaboration between Volvo Autonomous Solutions and the company Aurora. The truck manufacturer offers the truck as part of a transport-as-a-service model.

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