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Special Coverage
Frankfurt Auto Show
Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. will debut a hydrogen-powered, zero emission concept called i-Blue at next week’s Frankfurt auto show, incorporating the auto maker’s third-generation fuel-cell technology.
“The i-Blue is Hyundai’s first-ever model designed from the ground up to incorporate fuel-cell technology,” Hyundai’s president of research and development, Hyun-soon Lee, says in a statement.
He adds while the vehicle is compact in its dimensions, it has the hallmarks of non fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs), specifically an internal combustion engine-like driving range.
Hyundai has been experimenting with FCVs for eight years, creating its own 3-hp fuel-cell stack in 1999 and up to now has built all of its FCVs on existing platforms (Hyundai Santa Fe and Tucson, Kia Sportage).
However, the auto maker says the i-Blue rides on a new 2+2 cross/utility vehicle base.