Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Hyundai Motor Company announced a collaboration to assess the current status of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies’ performance and address the challenges they face. This effort will foster the independent and objective validation of these emerging technologies, including detailed evaluation of the fueling infrastructure.

As part of this partnership, Hyundai will provide five Hyundai NEXO fuel cell vehicles to DOE and support the installation of a SimpleFuel unit, an American-made, small-scale hydrogen fueling system, in the Washington, D.C., area this fall. This partnership will provide DOE managers and the national laboratories with access to data from real-world operation of hydrogen and fuel cell applications and help guide future DOE research and development.

“The Trump Administration is committed to utilizing every source of energy to ensure America’s transportation needs and challenges are aptly met and resolved,” said Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes. “To meet this commitment, it is essential that we collaborate with industry. We are pleased to partner with Hyundai to help advance fuel cell and hydrogen technologies and ensure our nation’s sustainable transportation future.”

The idea behind the SimpleFuel system came out of DOE’s H-Prize H2Refuel competition. This competition encouraged American innovators to develop small-scale hydrogen generation systems to refuel forklifts or vehicles at community centers, businesses, and other locations that don’t have hydrogen stations nearby. The H-Prize H2Refuel winner recently exported the American-made hydrogen refueling unit for use with forklifts and other vehicles.

“Hyundai Motor Company is proud to partner with and support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program as part of our commitment in supporting the transition to clean energy,” said Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Euisun Chung. “With the potential for application across multiple industries, we firmly believe that hydrogen fuel cells are necessary for a sustainable future. We are delighted that our technologies can help the U.S. Department of Energy as it continues to explore the future potential of hydrogen.”

The five Hyundai NEXO fuel cell cars, which can rely on the SimpleFuel unit for refueling, will join the DOE fleet in Washington, D.C. DOE will provide several of the cars to national laboratories that have refueling capability, as well as other federal government agencies. This will allow the independent validation of data and the development of workforce training programs, and encourage greater collaboration between government, research, and industry.