Kia will launch a hydrogen model with an 800 km range

Just like Honda and Toyota, the South Korean manufacturer will produce its own fuel cell vehicle.

Kia will introduce a new hydrogen vehicle by 2021. This fuel cell model could boast the longest range in its class: 800 km. While most manufacturers focus on producing electric, hybrid and internal combustion vehicles, the South Korean brand is turning its attention to fuel cell vehicles as a sustainable alternative to traditional mobility. Just like Honda and Toyota, the Asian company believes that hydrogen cars will play an important role in the future of the industry.

In an interview with the British publication Autocar, Kia’s head of fuel cell research, Sae-Hoon Kim, confirmed that the new hydrogen vehicle will have a genuine design and will not be based on any existing model. “We don’t know what body type it will use, but it will be a model with its own design and not based on another vehicle as we do now with the ix35,” says Kia’s head of fuel cell research.

The new Kia hydrogen vehicle will offer features that could make it a benchmark in its class. The range of this model could be truly extraordinary: 800 km. Its engine could be similar in size to a 2.0-litre combustion engine, although lighter and with an efficiency roughly 10 % higher than a traditional powertrain.

The new hydrogen vehicle is part of the initiative through which the brand aims to drastically reduce its CO2 emissions. Over the next five years, the South Korean brand will replace 70 percent of its conventional engines with sustainable units. Kia’s plans also include the introduction of new plug-in hybrid, standard hybrid and even electric models.