South Korea's Ambitious Plan to Expand Hydrogen Bus Fleet
Key Ideas
- South Korea aims to have 21,200 hydrogen buses, 25% of the metropolitan fleet, by 2030.
- Efforts focus on converting intercity, city, and charter buses to hydrogen due to their suitability for extended routes.
- Hyundai and Doosan's HiExium Motors division are increasing production capacities to meet the growing demand for hydrogen buses.
- Operators are being encouraged to introduce hydrogen buses, with plans to include them in newly established semi-public metropolitan bus routes.
The South Korean government has set an ambitious goal to increase the presence of hydrogen buses in metropolitan areas by 2030. The plan, detailed by the Ministry of Environment and METC, aims to have 21,200 hydrogen buses, representing a quarter of the metropolitan fleet. Focusing on intercity, city, and charter buses, the effort is to leverage hydrogen buses' suitability for longer routes common in metropolitan areas. Hyundai, currently the sole hydrogen bus manufacturer in South Korea, is scaling up production from 500 to 3,000 buses annually in Jeonju. Additionally, Doosan's HiExium Motors division is set to join in hydrogen bus production by the end of the year. The Metropolitan Transportation Policy Bureau is actively encouraging transportation operators to adopt hydrogen buses, targeting three out of ten newly established semi-public bus routes for their introduction this year.