The Queensland government has bought five Hyundai NEXO hydrogen-powered vehicles available in Queensland for its car fleet, according to The Brisbane Times.
The state government’s QFleet has purchased five Hyundai NEXO hydrogen cars, the first hydrogen-powered vehicles in the state.
The NEXO can travel more than 800km on a full tank of hydrogen, with water vapour being its only emission. Each vehicle costs approximately $100,000.
Hyundai regional general manager Martin Him said, “The hydrogen generates the electricity through a hydrogen fuel cell stack in the engine, and that’s stored in the batteries, which are in the floor of the car.”
The Queensland government is building a hydrogen refuelling station at Redland Bay, which is being jointly developed by the CSIRO and the state government.
Mr Him said the number of hydrogen vehicles would increase when the price dropped through demand, and when there were more refuelling stations available.
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“We were always going to launch the NEXO into the marketplace this year, but realistically, you can only launch the vehicle where they can be refuelled,” he said.
Renewables and Hydrogen Minister Mick de Brenni said the new commercial hydrogen refuelling centre would be opened in a matter of months.
“We are thinking of an industrial zone because one of the best applications for renewable hydrogen is in heavy vehicles,” Mr de Brenni said.
“These NEXO vehicles are really an early adoption initiative for Queensland.
“But ultimately, we will see renewable hydrogen in buses, trucks, trains, ferries, those sorts of big vehicles that are not really suited to smaller battery operations.”
The Queensland government has a formal agreement to remove petrol vehicles from its QFleet. QFleet will add 144 non-petrol-powered vehicles in 2021 and will buy 288 in 2022, he said.
