Ineos bets on hydrogen future, will work with Hyundai to build Toyota LandCruiser-rivalling electric off-roader

Heading outback? You might be running on hydrogen, not batteries in years to come.

Until pretty recently, we’ve had two schools of thought when it came to automotive propulsion post fossil fuels.

Battery-electric power had stolen a march for a while there, but in the last few months, hydrogen has begun stealing back the headlines.

Toyota Australia is investing heavily in hydrogen technology with a plant at its Melbourne faciality that both produces sustainable hydrogen (through solar electricity) as well as acting as a refuelling station.

And now Ineos, manufacturer of the Grenadier off-roader, has weighed into the argument suggesting that while battery-electric might be fine for townsfolk, for those of us who like to get out back of beyond, hydrogen is shaping up as a better bet.

Speaking to CarsGuide, Ineos Automotive’s Australian marketing manager Tom Smith confirmed the company’s interest in hydrogen both as a producer of the fuel as well as a maker of vehicles that use it.

“While battery and electric vehicles are strong in towns and cities, for commercial vehicles such as this (the Grenadier) that need to go a long distance and to remote locations, being able to refuel quickly and having a long range is something we’re keen to investigate,” he said.

“We recently announced that we’ve signed a memo of understanding with Hyundai to work with them and actually prototype a fuel-cell vehicle.”

Ineos’ backing of hydrogen is an understandable point of view when you consider its global operations (beyond automotive) include a huge interest in electrolysis; the technology that, when performed with renewable energy, creates green hydrogen.

Electrolysis works by introducing a current to water which creates a reaction where the water’s molecules (oxygen and hydrogen) are split and the hydrogen collected as a gas.

Ineos announced a few weeks ago that it would make a two-billion Euro investment in hydrogen plants in Norway, Germany and Belgium in the next decade.

The plants would use zero-carbon electricity to achieve the electrolytic process and, therefore, produce green hydrogen.

Ineos subsidiary, Inovyn, is already Europe’s largest operator of electrolysis infrastructure, but the recent announcement represents Europe’s largest ever investment in the technology.