Among those who tested the hydrogen-powered car was Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Enterprise and chairman of the London Hydrogen Partnership. Mr Malthouse commented: 'I am really glad that Hyundai is making such a commitment to hydrogen because I firmly believe that it is a vital part of the energy future of the globe, particularly where vehicles are concerned. It solves all sorts of problems; oil dependency and emissions; but aside from everything else, you can’t stop the advance of technology and the fuel cell is the future of mobile power. Finding a company that has the courage to make such a commitment so early is fantastic.'

The ix35 is the third-generation fuel-cell vehicle from Hyundai, and it presents a strong case for being a truly viable everyday car, retaining the safety, equipment, convenience and performance of the conventionally-powered ix35, yet producing zero exhaust emissions.

Equipped with a 100 kW fuel cell stack and two hydrogen storage tanks, the ix35 FCEV can travel a total of 325 miles on a single refuelling and reach a maximum speed of 100mph. 

Hyundai is the only automaker ready to commercialise its fuel cell vehicle and plans to do so by the end of 2012 with an initial production run of 1,000 fuel cell vehicles. Hyundai will supply fuel cell vehicles to government and private fleets leading up to mass production, scheduled for 2015.

Also present at the conference was Dr Graham Cooley, chief executive officer of ITM Power, a company which – along with Hyundai – is involved in a ground-breaking project to ensure the UK is well positioned for the commercial roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.  The programme – UKH2Mobility – brings together three Government departments and industrial participants from the utility, gas, infrastructure and global car manufacturing sectors to evaluate the potential for hydrogen as a fuel for Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles in the UK.

The conference, supported by the Mayor of London, was chaired by journalist and TV presenter Quentin Willson, and attracted investors and transport industry professionals.  Other speakers at the conference included Patrick Head, co-founder of Williams Formula 1; Dominic Emery, Chief Development Officer at BP Alternative Energy; and Norman Baker MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport.

Hyundai’s vision and strategy have earned it recognition as one of the Top Global Green Brands of 2012 in Interbrand's "50 Best Global Green Brands" report.  Placed 17th overall, Hyundai was one of the highest-ranked automakers.  Interbrand made particular mention of Hyundai’s industry leadership in zero-emission technology through advances in hydrogen fuel-cell development.