The Ulsan metropolitan city government plans to take active steps to create an ecosystem for the hydrogen economy by distributing more than 1,000 units of hydrogen vehicles and increasing the number of hydrogen recharging stations by more than ten.
At the second Hydrogen Industry Development Global Forum held at Ulsan Lotte Hotel on December 2, Lee Ji-heon, deputy mayor of the Ulsan city government, said, “Although Korea succeeded in mass-producing hydrogen vehicles almost for the first time in the world, it is lagging behind Japan in terms of the distribution and diffusion of hydrogen vehicles.”
The Ulsan city government plans to spend 45.5 billion won to increase the number of hydrogen vehicles from the current 8 to 35 in 2016, 56 in 2017, 200 in 2018, 700 in 2019, and 1,000 in 2020, as well as to increase the number of hydrogen charging stations from the current 1 to 12.
The main driver behind the city government’s commitment to the establishment of the hydrogen economy ecosystem is the fact that although Hyundai Motor developed the world’s first Tucson ix hydrogen vehicle in February 2013, its sales in and outside Korea remained low at less than 400.
