Hyundai Motor, Shell team up on the environment

Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon, right, shakes hands with Huibert Vigeveno, downstream director of Shell. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Royal Dutch Shell to jointly pursue electric mobility and net zero carbon emissions.

"The MOU targets fortifying each company's competitiveness in all aspects of the green business value chain," Hyundai Motor said in a release Friday.

The companies will work on building electric vehicle (EV) chargers for Asian countries expected to see rapid growth in EV demand. They will utilize Shell's 45,000 gas stations in some 80 countries around the world.

Hyundai Motor will adapt Shell's technologies to achieve its goal of having its global manufacturing facilities 100 percent powered by renewable energy by 2045. This is part of Hyundai Motor's clean energy ambition, which includes conquering 80 percent of global EV sales by 2040.

Under the MOU, Shell will also consider using Hyundai Motor's hydrogen-powered trucks and battery-powered cars at its global worksites.

Last October, Shell and Hyundai Motor North America agreed to establish 48 hydrogen chargers in California.

"We expect to achieve innovation in various environmentally friendly businesses by working together with Shell," Chang Jae-hoon, CEO of Hyundai Motor, said Friday.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]