SEOUL: Aiming to cash in on a major push by South Korea to promote fuel cell vehicles, Sung Won-young opened a hydrogen refueling station in the city of Ulsan last September. Just one year on, he's thinking about closing it down.
If those impediments to commercial viability were not enough, a fatal hydrogen storage tank explosion this year has spurred protests against the government and Hyundai's ambitious campaign to promote the zero-emissions fuel.Calling hydrogen power the"future bread and butter" of Asia's No. 4 economy, President Moon Jae-in has declared himself an ambassador for the technology and targeted 850,000 fuel cell vehicles on South Korean roads by 2030.
Subsidies cut Nexo's price by half to about 35 million won and sales of the model, launched in March 2018, have surged this year. In contrast, Japanese subsidies fund one third of Toyota Motor Corp's Mirai FCV, bringing its price to around US$46,200. One month later, there was an explosion at a hydrogen refueling station in Norway. This week, a hydrogen gas leak and subsequent fire at a South Korean chemical plant caused three workers to suffer burns.
The consortium, which includes Hyundai, has also called on the government to subsidize operating costs for hydrogen stands. Such a move is under consideration, an industry ministry official told Reuters, declining to be identified as the plan has not been finalised.
Source: Car News Wire (carnewswire.net)
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