Avoiding road taxes that can run up to 50K per truck in Switzerland COOP is taking matters into its own hands and ordered a 1000 trucks from Hyundai Hyundai Motor Co. will build 1,000 FC trucks based on its Hyundai XCient truck, to be operated in Switzerland beginning in 2019. Powered by a 190kW fuel cell and 8 storage tanks the truck will have a range of 400 km.  Recently U.S., Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled a new version of its Project Portal prototype tested at ports in Southern California. Startup Nikola Motor Co. has received 9,000 non-binding orders for its hydrogen fuel cell truck, including 800 for brewing giant Anheuser-Busch. The Hyundai truck will be available in 4×2 or 6×2 configurations.

Switzerland was chosen for the program as it features challenging terrain with steep elvation and is known for  steep road taxes on commercial vehicles to reduce emissions and prevent trucks from crossing through the country as they traverse Europe. Depending on weight and distance driven the annual tax can cost up to $50,000 per vehicle. As electric trucks are exempt from the tax, the potential savings from the tax exemption alone contributes to a total cost of ownership that Huber expects will be equivalent to operating a conventionally powered truck.

Maintenance or repairs to the truck’s hydrogen fuel cell components will be handled through a partnership with Swiss laboratories and research centers. All operators of the Hyundai trucks are part of the H2 Mobility Switzerland Association, a consortium of private companies. Among them is Coop Cooperative, which operates the largest gas station chain in Switzerland. It opened the country’s first hydrogen station in 2016.