Very like Bosch, which is engaged on a hydrogen automobile engine, Hyundai has introduced that it too is doubling down on hydrogen, presenting what it calls a blueprint for a hydrogen vitality ecosystem. Hyundai has the world’s highest market share in hydrogen-powered car gross sales, although that isn’t almost as spectacular because it sounds, in fact. Hyundai’s future hydrogen options will supposedly transcend passenger automobiles, vans, and buses to incorporate issues reminiscent of trams, ships, energy mills, and planes.
At its press convention right this moment, the group introduced it’s engaged on tech that goals to remodel pollution into clear hydrogen. Hyundai has two approaches for this: Waste-to-Hydrogen (W2H) and Plastic-to-Hydrogen (P2H). W2H includes the fermentation of natural waste (meals waste, livestock manure, and so forth) to generate biogas. This biogas is then handled to seize carbon dioxide and produce hydrogen. P2H includes melting waste plastics that can not be recycled, gasifying the molten plastics, after which producing hydrogen from this by eradicating “pointless components”.
The opposite most important focus of Hyundai’s CES bulletins was on software program, persevering with the auto pattern we’re seeing this 12 months the place new {hardware} is taking one thing of a again seat. A brand new Software program-Outlined Every part’ (SDX) technique will concentrate on, in fact, AI.
The SDX technique inevitably contains software-defined autos (SDVs). Apparently, the thought is to “decouple {hardware} and software program” in its automobiles, main to raised, quicker, and wider updates. Such a scheme leaves you questioning if this wasn’t accomplished already, then why wasn’t it? Certainly, the sharing of tech between Hyundai and sister-brand Kia is already in depth, so it’s unclear how this new initiative strikes issues additional, although “software-defined fleets for companies” had been talked about.
Hyundai additionally stated it intends to remodel its autos into “AI machines” so it may personalize consumer experiences and ship “added-value”. However we’ve heard this earlier than many occasions from different producers. All of them need to do that, however few appear clear on precisely easy methods to do it efficiently. A part of the group’s efforts to attain this includes writing its personal software program for its consumer interface and growing a brand new infotainment system full with the compulsory app market. And, not like Volkswagen, which has opted to combine ChatGPT into its coming automobiles, Hyundai group is now growing its personal LLM to place in its autos. All that is going to take time, although, so don’t anticipate the primary software program from this initiative to drop till 2026.