The Ministry of Environment (Minister Cho KyeungKyu) will hold a ceremony to mark the launch of fuel cell hydrogen taxi in collaboration with Ulsan municipality, Hyundai Motor Company and local taxi operators on December 13 in Ulsan, and implement pilot project for hydrogen-powered taxis for the first time in Korea.

The ceremony will be joined by Vice Minister Lee ChungSeop, Ulsan Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon, Hyundai Motors President Yoon Gap-Han and representatives of three local taxi operators.  

After the ceremony, the guests will take a spin in the taxis. The fare of hydrogen-fueled taxis will be same as conventional taxis in Ulsan. The Ministry of Environment and Ulsan will initially operate ten hydrogen-powered taxis, and introduce five more taxis in the first half, next year. In addition, pilot project for fuel cell hydrogen taxis will be carried out in Gwangju in the first half of next year.

The ministry and Ulsan municipality provided a subsidy of 27.5 million won to each unit. Three local taxi operators will be in charge of operation and maintenance of taxis, and Hyundai Motors will provide after-sale services.

Ulsan was selected as the first venue of the pilot project since it is home to plants that manufacture hydrogen electric car and produce the largest amount of byproduct hydrogen gas.

The project is noteworthy in that the ministry, the local government, a carmaker and local taxi firms join hands to allow citizens to enjoy the ride of emissions-free, eco-friendly hydrogen cars as well as to validate the hydrogen car project model.

The hydrogen model that will be used for the pilot projects is Tucsan ix35, the automaker's sport utility model produced since 2013. The charging time for hydrogen-powered models is only 3 to 5 minutes, much shorter than other electric cars. They also travel long distances up to 415 kilometers, 2 to 3 times longer than that of electric vehicles, when fully charged.

Lee ChungSeop, Vice-Minister of Environment, said that "hydrogen-fueled cars are the ultimate eco-friendly cars generating zero pollution." "Though its high price per unit limited the purchase only to public institutions, I hope the pilot project will serve as an opportunity to expand the operation of hydrogen-powered cars to the private sector," he added.

As the budget for 2017 was passed in the National Assembly on December 2, the ministry will expand the operation of hydrogen electric vehicles to 130 units and establish 10 hydrogen-fueling stations in the cities of Ulsan, Gwangju and Changwon next year.