At the Paris Auto Show, Hyundai announced that it will begin production of the ix35 Fuel Cell crossover (also know as the Tucson) at its Ulsan plant in South Korea. The initial projection is 1,000 units by 2015 and a limited mass production of 10,000 units after that.
The ix35 Fuel Cell features a fuel cell stack that converts hydrogen into electricity, which charges the lithium polymer battery that powers the electric motor. It is a zero-emissions vehicle since the only thing that it emits is water vapor.
Hyundai is one of the world’s biggest automakers, and the most visible of South Korea’s business and industrial acumen. So you would think a company that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Toyota and pre-bailout GM would be pretty consistent with its model naming conventions, right?
Well, not exactly. When Hyundai first launched the i30 hatchback in Europe, Australia and other markets, it seemed that familiar nameplates such as Elantra and Sonata would soon be dead and buried. Not so. In fact, the i30 CW (basically, the station wagon version of the i30), is still sold in the U.S. as the Elantra Touring.
