Europe and Asia have formed a partnership that could change the mobility sector for the future. The world has accepted the reality that fossil fuel and gasoline have had a disastrous effect on the planets environment. The worst polluting industries carry the responsibility of working together to find a solution to the energy crisis. Hyundai and Skoda have teamed up to do just that. The two signed a memorandum of understanding back in 2024 to establish a hydrogen infrastructure and increase the hydrogen mobility options for consumers.
What exactly are Hyundai and Skoda planning to do together?
The partnership between the two has huge implications for the mobility sector. Hyundai have invested a lot of time and resources into their hybrid and hydrogen engines over the past few decades. The popularity and success of the electric vehicle is dwindling, with sales of the EV worldwide slowing year by year, Hyundai saw this as a trend and not a long term solution to the world’s energy needs.
Their solution was hydrogen. The Asian manufacturing giant spent their time and money studying and developing their hydrogen engines. They are miles ahead of any other companies in the hydrogen technology sector. Skoda have a long and iconic reputation, particularly in Europe, as the company managed to escape the clutches of the Soviet grip and emerge from behind the iron curtain alive and kicking.
Skoda comes from the Czech Republic and have a range of vehicles available including small cars, compact cars, SUVs, family cars, estate cars, electric and hybrid cars, and performance-focused vRS models. So they have a big lineup of cars that can potentially adopt the hydrogen technology. According to the memorandum of understanding, that is one of the two goals of the partnership. Another is increasing the hydrogen infrastructure worldwide.
Is Hyundai correct in their assumption that hydrogen is the fuel of the future?
Hyundai have long believed that hydrogen is the solution to the world’s energy crisis. The world was astonished by the EV and the climate conscious buyers flocked to the Tesla and BYD dealerships across the world. But the EV has proven to be just as troublesome as the traditional internal combustion engine. The electricity infrastructure in some under developed countries means that certain people are simply not interested in the EV.
The partnership between Asian giant Hyundai and European manufacturer Skoda has the potential to change that. Hyundai already have the hydrogen engine for Skoda to adopt and put into the vast range of vehicles they sell. While they do that and fine tune things, Hyundai will build and improve hydrogen infrastructure around the world.
Europe have began to move away from the electrification of every new car, this new partnership has the potential to begin the large scale implementation of the hydrogen technology that most car makers have strayed away from. The only companies offering hydrogen cars come out of Asia while the rest of the world opted for some kind of hybrid technology to keep that innovation feeling going.
Can Asia and Europe bring hydrogen into the future as a power source?
While every country in the world have their own power ambitions, both Asia and Europe can benefit from the partnership between the Koreans and Czech’s. Perhaps this is the way forward, to put aside political differences and work together to achieve our sustainability and emission goals. The carbon footprint that the mobility sector has is substantial, but if they can offer us some alternative fuel sources that actually work in the long run, things might get better. The earth is capable of healing itself if we give it time to do so. Hydrogen could give it that time.
