Audi partners with Hyundai to develop hydrogen-powered vehicle technology

Audi, a leading member of the Volkswagen Group (VW Group), has partnered up with South Korean auto manufacturing company Hyundai in the aim of developing advanced hydrogen car technology.

The collaboration will look to address the alternative fuel segment that has lagged behind the progress that has been made in the way of electric battery-powered vehicles.

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Hyundai has claimed that its own ambitions of increasing the uptake of hydrogen cars has largely been stumped by a lack of infrastructure that has to date been more readily in favor of electric vehicles, driven the likes of Tesla.

The deal will allow both Audi and Hyundai to access each other’s existing intellectual property and share and new or existing components for hydrogen-powered vehicles.

“For the breakthrough of sustainable technology, co-operation is the smart way to achieve attractive cost structures,” said Peter Mertens, Audi member of the Board for Technical Development, as cited by Autocar.

“The key motivators are to hasten development and reduce costs,” said Hyundai and Kia’s head of FCEV Research, Dr Sae-Hoon Kim. “The more capability we have the more scale we will get and the more authorities will be willing to invest in and encourage the technology.”