Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun speaks on carbon neutrality at a session to open the Green Future Week, held at the Dongdaemun Design Center in downtown Seoul on May 24.

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun pledged the company will become carbon neutral in all processes, ranging from car production to operation and dismantlement.

Chairman Chung made the remarks while speaking at a session to open the Green Future Week, held at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in downtown Seoul on May 24, ahead of the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Seoul Summit.

Major countries around the world are expected to join forces in coping with climate change in the wake of the P4G Seoul Summit.

Chairman Ching said, “We’ll contribute to realizing the goal of making the world a circular economy society by pursuing carbon neutrality in all processes related to car production, operation and dismantlement.”

“The world is now trying to limit temperature rises on the earth to 1.5 degrees Centigrade and working on a roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025,” he said.

The transportation sector, along with power generation and plants, is one of the major greenhouse gas emission sources, he said. Chairman Chung stressed electrification as the most important means in the transportation sector.

Of late, global automakers are rushing to release EVs and announce their electrification plans. Hyundai Motor Group recently released the IONIQ 5 and EV6, both based on its exclusive EV platform.

Hyundai Motor Group has released on the market 13 kinds of EVs by concentrating its capabilities on electrification.

The group, based on leading fuel cell electric vehicle technology, has supplied 14,000 units of the hydrogen fuel cell passenger car Nexo, and recently expanded the fuel cell electric vehicles to commercial cars, such as fuel cell electric trucks, he said.

“Hyundai Motor Group has built hydrogen charging infrastructure to expand the supply of hydrogen fuel cell buses in major cities such as Seoul, Ulsan, Changwon and Gwangju and offered financial support so that hydrogen fuel cell buses can be purchased at prices similar to those of combustion engine cars.”

Thanks to these efforts he said, about 100 hydrogen fuel cell business have been operating, and more than 200 hydrogen fuel cell buses are to be supplied this year, he said.

An image of Hyundai Motor’s EV car Nexo. (Photos: Hyundai Motor Group)

The group plans to develop 23 kinds of EVs by 2025 and supply diverse hydrogen fuel cell vehicles such as follow-up models of the Nexo.

Hyundai Motor Group will be reborn into a mobility solution company that will supply diverse transportation means such as urban air mobility (UAM), robots and hydrogen trams, and the group plans to further develop hydrogen fuel cell technologies so that citizens can use clean energy, he said.

Chairman Chung said, “Cities and citizens’ behaviors and actions are more important to address a global climate crisis, and express hope the 2021 P4G Seoul Summit will reap achievements toward carbon neutrality.”