“Once I went to the Yangjae Hydrogen Charging Station, but it was under repair, so I moved to the National Assembly, and there were also issues there. Then I went to Sangam-dong, but it was by reservation only, so I barely managed to get 1kg and went home. A friend who couldn't find a charging station said they were taken away by a tow truck.” (Hwang Young-han·57)
“I went to Dobong, Guri, and Hanam Rest Areas to charge my hydrogen car, but there were no available places. When I went to Seongnam Charging Station, there were 12 cars waiting. This ruined a date back in December last year.” (Gong Hyun-jin·33)
Citizens who visited hydrogen charging stations in Seoul and Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, on the 25th and 26th of last month unanimously stated that the shortage of charging stations is a serious issue. There were 10 hydrogen charging stations in Seoul, but the one in Junggok-dong, Gwangjin-gu, has closed, leaving only 9 stations open. Hydrogen needs about 10 minutes to increase pressure before charging, and it takes around 15 minutes to charge. As a result, if the wait time is long, charging can take more than 2 to 3 hours.
Hyundai Motor, which produces the only hydrogen passenger car, Nexo, is set to launch a follow-up model in April, amid concerns about the lack of infrastructure, such as charging stations. There are also criticisms regarding issues with hydrogen supply.
◇ “I bought it thinking they would increase charging stations... I won’t buy it again.”
The number of operating hydrogen charging stations in Seoul has decreased from 10 last year to 9 this year. This is because Hyundai Motor closed its mobile charging station, H Gwangjin Moving Station, located in Junggok-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. A taxi driver, Ko Se-geun (76), who was washing his car nearby, said, “At least 10 cars used to come each day, but it disappeared at the end of last year,” adding, “Many still mistakenly come and go without success.”
A Hyundai Motor official stated, “It was suspended because the two-year contract period ended.” Now, the only hydrogen charging stations left in Seoul are H National Assembly Hydrogen Charging Station and H Gangdong Hydrogen Charging Station.
Although hydrogen charging stations take a long time to charge, frequent breakdowns of the chargers make it difficult to use them in emergencies. As of 12:30 p.m. on the 26th, a check of the 9 hydrogen charging stations in Seoul found that only Gangdong and Dobong were available for immediate charging. The reasons for unavailability at the other stations included 'equipment inspection', 'repairs due to malfunction', 'out of stock', 'bus only', and 'reservation system'. A person named Han (43), who has been driving a hydrogen car for four years, said, “I bought a hydrogen car trusting the policy that the number of charging stations would increase, but if I could go back to the past, I would never buy one.”
There were also significant complaints about waiting times. Hwang Young-han said, “It generally takes at least 30 minutes to charge, and I’ve waited as long as 3 hours. The Yangjae charging station is reservation-only, and all slots were filled by mid-March.” According to the Seoul Energy Corporation, the Yangjae Charging Station operates on a reservation system to prevent traffic congestion caused by waiting cars. Bae Jong-yeol, who is in charge of operating the Yangjae Green Car Station for hydrogen and electric vehicle charging stations, noted, “Reservations are accepted daily at midnight for two weeks ahead, but it fills up in just five minutes, causing the system to crash.”
◇ Unstable hydrogen supply and frequent equipment failures
Concerns have been raised that hydrogen charging stations are insufficient in Seoul, and that the hydrogen supply itself is not smooth. A Seoul official stated, “When you look at the number of hydrogen vehicles and the charging capacity of the stations, the current level is not lacking. The real issue is the instability of hydrogen supply.” An employee at Hanam Dream Charging Station mentioned, “Equipment breakdowns happen frequently, making the supply unstable. One charging station couldn’t operate for three weeks due to a supplier's equipment failure, during which time cars flocking to nearby stations faced wait times of up to 5 hours.”
An anonymous hydrogen supplier official stated, “The production facilities are insufficient compared to demand and equipment malfunctions are also common.” Another supplier official noted, “For transportation, the proportion is small compared to the overall hydrogen market, making it difficult to expand facilities.”
Since the hydrogen supply is not smooth, the inventory can quickly deplete. The Hanam Dream Charging Station operates until 10 p.m., but on the 25th of last month, it closed around 3:40 p.m. due to lack of stock.
There is also an analysis that the supply and infrastructure expansion of hydrogen vehicles is primarily centered around commercial vehicles and bus depot charging stations. A Seoul official said, “Efforts are currently being made to establish additional charging stations, but there has been resistance to building them in the city. We are working to establish hydrogen charging stations in three bus depots to expand the supply of commercial vehicles.”
The operator of the project in Ose-dong, Gangseo-gu, which the Ministry of Environment is promoting as a public-private partnership, is reportedly a highway bus company. A Ministry official stated, “We will continue to promote the installation of all hydrogen charging stations, including passenger cars,” adding, “We plan to pursue the establishment of new hydrogen charging stations through additional public-private partnerships in March.”
Although infrastructure is lacking, both the public and private sectors are accelerating the adoption of hydrogen vehicles. The Ministry of Environment has confirmed a budget of 721.8 billion won to support the purchase of 2,000 hydrogen buses and 11,000 hydrogen passenger cars this year. Hyundai Motor unveiled its new hydrogen car model 'INITIUM' in October last year after a seven-year hiatus and plans to showcase it at the Seoul Mobility Show in April this year. The company also plans to install and operate mobile hydrogen chargers in Seongnam and Jeju during the first half of the year.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, there were 37,563 registered hydrogen cars nationwide as of January this year. Of these, approximately 8.6% or 3,222 vehicles are in Seoul. As of the end of last year, there were 386 hydrogen charging stations nationwide, with 97.3 hydrogen cars per charging station. The total number of electric cars by the end of last year was 684,244, with 414,686 charging stations, resulting in 1.7 electric cars per charging station. The Ministry of Environment plans to invest 196.3 billion won this year to increase the number of charging stations by 64.