Hydrogen

Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis is poised to launch an electric car to take on Tesla – and it will be on Australian roads within two years. The still-secret electric vehicle is just one of a vast range of new models Genesis is ready to roll out in Australia, one of its key new markets globally.

Toyota and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) are co-funding a $7.4 million Hydrogen Centre at the company’s old manufacturing site in Altona, west of Melbourne. Existing manufacturing infrastructure will be repurposed into “Victoria's first integrated hydrogen site”, complete with an electrolyser, commercial-grade hydrogen refuelling station and an ‘education centre’ with live demonstrations of how the tech works.

Mercedes-Benz has put the GLC F-Cell, a plug-in fuel-cell hybrid vehicle, into production, delivering the first examples to a number of German hydrogen agencies. Unlike regular plug-in hybrid vehicles, there's no internal-combustion engine backing the 13.5kWh battery pack and 50km all-electric range. Instead, the F-Cell relies on a hydrogen fuel-cell good for around 430km.

Hydrogen Mobility Australia (HMA) has been founded, aimed at advocating for the burgeoning local hydrogen industry. It's made up of automakers, energy companies and infrastructure providers including Toyota Australia, Hyundai Australia, BP Australia and Caltex Australia.

Toyota wants to have electrified powertrains available across its entire range by 2025, and plans to sell more than 5.5 million electrified vehicles annually by 2030.