Hyundai to Rollout 1,000 Hydrogen Cars in Late 2012

On August 26, 2010, I had talked about how Hyundai had stated they would be rolling out 500 fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) starting in 2012 and by 2015 they will be selling around 10,000 of these vehicles. Hyundai also made a bold statement that by 2015, they would be selling their hydrogen cars for less than the $50,000 sticker price that Toyota claimed they would be selling their cars for just 3 years from now.

But, in 2012, Hyundai won’t beat this price. In fact the 2012 selling price for the Hyundai Tucsan ix will be around $88,550.30 USD. Now this price may be hard to swallow for those people who want an affordable hydrogen car yesterday. And to these people I say “patience is a virtue”.

Of course depending upon the country you’re living in when purchasing a Hyundai Tucsan ix, the government subsidies that go along with the car may bring the price down to reasonable levels. Currently in the U. S. you can only get an alternative fuel vehicle credit for a hydrogen car for leasing a Honda Clarity.

According to the IRS the tax credit is between $8,000 and $12,000 depending upon the model year car you drive. What is also interesting about the Hyundai hydrogen car is that it won’t be being sold at first in South Korea where is it being built, but rather Denmark and other European countries will have first dibs on this vehicle.

According to MK Business News, “Hyundai Motor was recently selected as the preferred bidder over European rivals for Denmark’s FCEV government project, and will be supplying 10 units of its Tucsan ix models to the Danish government. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) concerning the deal will be signed as early as this week. Under this contract, the Danish government will be in charge of building necessary FCEV infrastructure such as hydrogen charging stations, while Hyundai takes responsibility for supplying the vehicles.”

Presumably, many of the Hyundai Tucsan ix vehicles will also be sold in Germany which now has the largest hydrogen refueling infrastructure in Europe and continue to put up H2 pumps and filling stations at a rapid pace. There has been no mention yet as to whether any of those 1,000 initial production run vehicles will make their way to the U. S. but if they do, then the Los Angeles area is a likely target market with enough early adopters and hydrogen fueling stations to support a small rollout.

While many people interpret the Mayan calendar to mean the end of the world is coming in late 2012, others believe that this year will bring a great transitional shift in the universe. And this shift may just apply to the commercialization of hydrogen cars as well.