Hyundai Motor among big three carmakers for first time

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it ranked third globally in car sales in the first half of this year -- a first feat for the nation’s largest carmaker.

According to its sales data, Hyundai Motor Co., its luxury Genesis brand, and its smaller affiliate Kia Corp. sold a total of 3.299 million vehicles in global markets in the January-June period.

The sales figure is the third largest following Toyota Motor Group’s 5.138 million units and Volkswagen Group’s 4.006 million units.

Hyundai’s ranking jumped from No. 5 a year ago, outpacing Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and Stellantis Group which sold 3.14 million units and 3.019 million units in the first half, respectively.

While its global rivals were hit hard by chip shortages, Hyundai is said to have pulled through the crisis as it was able to secure enough chip supplies. Adding to that, the robust sales of its luxury Genesis cars and new electric vehicle launches also helped drive overall sales.

Genesis sold a total of 25,668 units in the US alone during the first six months, the brand’s best-ever sales in the all-important market.

Its EV models, including Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, performed well. Hyundai became the second-largest EV maker in the US with 27,000 units sold in the January-May period after Tesla, the world’s bestselling EV brand.

Despite its stellar performance, Hyundai’s first-half sales dropped 5.1 percent compared to a year ago, possibly due to supply chain disruptions and weaker consumer demands. Still, the drop was less severe considering its bigger rivals Toyota and Volkswagen saw 6 percent and 14 percent drops in sales during the same period. The Renault-Nissan alliance and GM also suffered 17.3 percent and 18.6 percent on-year losses in sales.

Source: Korean Herald

BMW fuel cell SUV to enter mass production as soon as 2025

BMW will start mass-producing and selling fuel cell vehicles developed jointly with Toyota Motor as early as 2025, sales chief Pieter Nota told Nikkei, outlining the German automaker's push into greener cars amid increasingly strict environmental regulations in Europe.

BMW unveiled the fuel cell iX5 Hydrogen concept car at the International Motor Show Germany in September 2021. Small-scale production of the sport utility vehicle will begin before the end of 2022, the company had previously announced.

FCVs can be refueled in three to four minutes -- much faster than a battery electric vehicle. Though BMW has not revealed the iX5's range, the model is equipped with two roughly 6-kilogram tanks to allow for long-distance travel.

"We see that hydrogen fuel cell technology is particularly relevant for larger SUVs," Nota said.

The iX5 is based on BMW's X5 SUV. BMW and Toyota have also jointly developed sports cars since partnering in 2013, released as the BMW Z4 and the Toyota Supra in 2019.

"We have various projects we work on with Toyota," Nota said, hinting at further collaborations with the Japanese automaker.

BMW will also accelerate its shift toward electric vehicles. It currently aims for 50% of groupwide new sales -- also including the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands -- to be electrics by 2030. EVs have been making up a larger portion of sales than expected, and "maybe if the current speed stays, we can reach that 50% one or two years earlier," Nota said.

Gasoline engine vehicles, including hybrids, are still expected to constitute around half of the group sales in 2030. "We are also keeping up our investment on the combustion engine side," Nota said.

"We do believe in the importance of various technologies -- battery electric vehicles, also hydrogen and efficient combustion engines -- because we don't want to put all our investment in one area," he said.

A protracted parts shortage looms large over BMW's strategy. EVs require more chips than engine vehicles, and automakers across the board are under pressure to secure enough of a supply.

BMW is responding to the challenge by securing long-term contracts to source chips used by its parts suppliers. It signed a contract with Inova Semiconductors and GlobalFoundries in late 2021 for smart-LED chips.

BMW is believed to be guaranteed millions of units a year under the deal. BMW plans to expand this approach both in terms of total volume and in the variety of semiconductors.

Big auto suppliers like Bosch and Continental have traditionally held significant buying power in Europe. But given the global semiconductor shortage, automakers cannot secure enough chips by relying solely on these suppliers, Nota said, explaining BMW's push to expand its own supply chains.

Source: Asia Nikkei

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China’s CATL cements car battery dominance with €7bn Hungary plant

The manufacturer will start construction on the second European factory in Debrecen this year

China’s CATL will build a €7.3bn battery plant in Hungary, increasing its foothold in Europe and cementing its status as the world’s largest car battery manufacturer. Construction on the factory in the eastern city of Debrecen will start later in 2022, CATL said on Friday. It has a planned capacity of 100GWh a year, which would make it the largest “gigafactory” in Europe. CATL, which supplies batteries to Tesla and Volkswagen among others, did not specify when that target would be reached, but a company filing posted on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange showed that it expected to complete the Hungary factory within five-and-a-half years. Supplies from the 221-hectare site — CATL’s second in Europe — will be delivered to European carmakers, almost all of which have existing supply deals with the company.

Mercedes will initially be the largest single customer. “The greenfield project in Hungary will be a giant leap in CATL’s global expansion,” said founder and chair Robin Zeng. “There is no doubt that our plant in Debrecen will enable us to further sharpen our competitive edge, better respond to our European customers, and accelerate the transition to e-mobility in Europe.” Hungarian foreign affairs and trade minister Péter Szijjártó welcomed the development and said it would be “the biggest-ever greenfield investment in the history of Hungary”.

It is also Hungary’s largest-ever single foreign investment and will create 9,000 jobs. Thanks to hundreds of millions of euros in subsidies, Hungary has already attracted investment from Korea’s SK, which is building two vehicle battery plants in the country, and Samsung’s SDI. Japan’s GS Yuasa also produces batteries in Hungary. BMW is building a factory in Debrecen that will produce mainly electric vehicles. CATL, which is already building a European site in Erfurt, Germany, is by far the largest car battery producer, with a 35 percent market share in the first six months of this year, according to SNE Research. The top 10 manufacturers worldwide are all in Asia.

However, European companies have plans to catch up, most notably Volkswagen, which wants to build six car battery plants in Europe, starting with sites in Germany, Sweden, and Spain. Mercedes also has a deal with Stellantis and energy company Total to build factories that will provide 120GWh of battery capacity by the end of the decade. Later entrants also face a battle to secure raw materials such as lithium, which have soared in cost over the past year.

Source: Financial Times

India’s first indigenously built hydrogen-fueled electricvessel

 India’s first indigenously built hydrogen-fueled #electricvessel is planned to be delivered by 2023 Madhu S Nair, Chairman and Managing Director of Cochin Shipyard Limited

Indian Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways announced the innovative project, kick-starting #India’s efforts towards green shipping.

The ship in question will be a hydrogen-powered #fuelcell passenger ferry

Cochin Shipyard the largest #shipbuilding and maintenance facility in India has teamed up with Indian partners such as Pune-based KPIT Technologies developers in the area of hydrogen fuel cells #powertrain and the Indian Register of Shipping for developing rules and regulations for such vessels.

“The construction of India’s first indigenous hydrogen-fueled #electricvessel is a pilot project. We have completed the engineering and the construction will also start very soon as we are going to order the equipment required,” according to Nair.

Fuel cells operating on hydrogen fuel are an efficient, environmentally friendly, zero-emission, direct current (DC) power source already applied to heavy-duty buses, trucks, and trains, and are now under development for marine applications.

Source:H2 intelligence

A 50-50 joint venture agreement was signed and will involve sites in Germany, Austria, and Denmark.

 Phillips 66 and H2 Energy Europe have together announced that they have entered into a 50-50 joint venture for the establishment and operation of a network of hydrogen refueling stations.

The joint venture is called JET H2 Energy Austria GmbH. It exists between subsidiaries Phillips 66 Limited and H2 Energy Europe SA. It will bring together the retail expertise of Phillips 66 with the hydrogen expertise at H2 Energy. Combined, they have the opportunity for a solid position for the zero-emission fuel in the European market. The new joint venture company intends to construct around 250 hydrogen refueling stations by 2026.

“We will make hydrogen a leading energy solution for emission-free mobility,” said JET H2 Energy CEO Olaf Borbor. “We will align stakeholders’ interests along the hydrogen value chain and create a sustainable hydrogen ecosystem.”

The network of JET H2 Energy hydrogen refueling stations will serve heavy- and light-duty vehicles.

H2-powered passenger vehicles will also be able to use these hydrogen refueling stations locations, which will comprise both new locations and existing JET branded retail stations along major transport routes as well as at customer sites. The joint venture will need to achieve government funding where it is available, in order to move forward with the refueling network’s completion.

The sites throughout the network will be supplied with green hydrogen, which is H2 made using processes powered by renewable energy, so that both its production and use cause zero-carbon emissions.

The joint venture will benefit from the links it already has in place with Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, which is the exclusive Hyundai Xcient H2-powered truck reseller in Europe.

“Phillips 66 has a successful retail presence in Europe with its JET® brand,” said Borbor in a news release about the hydrogen fuel stations. “H2 Energy has a proven track record in creating a successful green hydrogen ecosystem in Switzerland. The parties’ competencies complement each other ideally for the next stage in building up the hydrogen economy.”

Source:Hydrogenfuelnews

A NASA-Backed Study Will Test Ammonia as a Carbon-Free Alternative to Jet Fuel

 The research team will work with a modified Boeing 737 aircraft to test new ammonia-fueled jet engines.

Most of the aviation industry’s efforts to seek out alternatives to fossil fuels have focused on the viability of electric engines, hydrogen power, and Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Now, a new study will explore yet another potential alternative: ammonia.

The University of Central Florida announced this week that it would begin testing ammonia as a potential fuel solution for aircraft. The program is backed by a five-year grant from NASA worth $10 million, and it hopes to determine whether ammonia represents a realistic fuel option for commercial airliners.

The team will be led by faculty from the university and experts from Georgia Tech and Purdue. In addition, companies within the aviation sector, such as Boeing, Southwest Research Institute, and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, have also been tapped to join the program.

Researchers hope to find ways to use ammonia as the main hydrogen carrier to create carbon-free emissions while in flight. To accommodate the new fuel, the team is also developing new jet engine components, using a Boeing 737-8 as a base model.

Dr. Jayanta Kapata, a UCF professor and the study’s lead investigator, believes ammonia could be a carbon-free alternative to conventional gas. “Use of ammonia as an aviation fuel will not produce any carbon dioxide. Ammonia is the only potential alternative aviation fuel that allows a pathway for near-elimination of nitrogen oxides in engine exhaust,” he told Robb Report in an email. “In addition, ammonia can also greatly reduce the formation of contrails that also impact earth’s radiation balance. Thus, among all aviation alternatives, ammonia can provide some unique advantages that can’t be matched by the rest.”

The University of Central Florida's ammonia study begins at a time when airlines such as United and TAP Portugal have begun to implement strategies to use Sustainable Aviation Fuel on commercial flights. However, UCF’s study, which will run through 2027, isn’t the industry’s first flirtation with ammonia. Indeed, Australian company Aviation H2 announced already plans to partially operate its Dassault Falcon 50 business jet on ammonia by mid-2023.

Whether ammonia can offer a scalable carbon-free alternative to conventional gas is an open question. The UCF study, hopefully, will give us some answers when it concludes.

Source:robbreport