Automakers team to bolster hydrogen fuel infrastructure in Australia

August 4, 2016 1 By Tami Hood

Automakers will work to help build new hydrogen stations in Australia

Hyundai and Toyota have joined together to help build a hydrogen fuel infrastructure in Australia. These efforts will be backed up by renewed government incentives promoting clean vehicles. Australia aims to establish itself as a leading clean transportation market, but bringing clean vehicles to the country, especially those equipped with fuel cells, has been quite difficult. This is partly due to lacking infrastructure, but lackluster government policy has also proven to be a problem.

Toyota and Hyundai are working more closely with one another

Recently, Toyota brought three of its new fuel cell vehicles to Australia. The automaker is also planning to bring a mobile hydrogen station to the country, which will be used to provide fueling support to its vehicles. Since Toyota brought its vehicles to Australia, it has been working more closely with Hyundai. The automakers note that it is important to present a unified front in the clean transportation field. This will also take some pressure off of the government, which does not want to be seen as showing favoritism toward one company due to the incentives it provides.

Fuel cells may be the future of clean vehicles

Hydrogen Fuel Infrastructure Australia - New PartnershipHyundai believes that fuel cells are the ultimate goal of the clean transportation space. These energy systems allow vehicles to travel greater ranges than those equipped with batteries. They also only take minutes to refuel as opposed to the hours it takes batteries to fully charge. Fuel cells also do not sacrifice performance for the sake of efficiency. The problem, however, is that these energy systems are notoriously expensive and there is lacking infrastructure support for fuel cell vehicles.

Partnerships may be the key to making fuel cell vehicles popular among consumers

Partnerships between large automakers may help resolve the problems that fuel cells currently face. Many automakers are beginning to invest more heavily in a global hydrogen fuel infrastructure. This infrastructure is necessary for fuel cell vehicles to find success. Australia has a relatively small hydrogen fuel infrastructure, but this may change thanks to the efforts of Hyundai and Toyota.

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