Today at the Munich auto show, in the midst of presenting its Hydrogen Vision 2040 product strategy and Hydrogen Wave of products heavily weighted toward commercial trucking, Hyundai also made mention of another vision for its fuel-cell technology: the 671-horsepower Vision FK sports car.
Of particular interest is that the Vision FK is being developed with Rimac, and will use Rimac’s battery pack, in an application that is expected to yield a range of 373 miles. Zero to 62 mph is expected in under 4 seconds. Knowing Rimac and the horsepower being promised here, that could be a conservative estimate.
Hyundai also released an image of its camouflaged test vehicle, the Concept FK. Intriguingly, Hyundai indicated the Vision/Concept FK powertrain will be a twinning of technologies: The fuel-cell system will drive the front wheels, while a more conventional battery-electric setup — presumably using the Rimac pack — will drive the rear wheels.
“We are absolutely convinced we are on the right track and we cannot survive with battery technology alone,” said Thomas Schemera, Hyundai’s chief marketing officer, during the automaker’s presentation. “This is our firm belief.”
Also on a twin track is the Hyundai corporate strategy. Like Toyota, Hyundai remains skeptical of a future comprised entirely of battery EVs. So it has released cars like the Kona EV and Kia Niro EV, and has a slew of EV models coming down the pipe. Meanwhile, it’s still putting R&D dollars into hydrogen fuel cell cars like the Nexo and now the Vision FK. It will continue with this two-pronged approach as it phases out combustion engines, and by 2035 the company says it will offer only electric models in Europe. By 2040, as mentioned in the strategy’s title, internal combustion will be gone entirely.