JIM RATCLIFFE, Britain’s richest man, is joining forces with Hyundai Motor Co. in a bid to give hydrogen fuel cell vehicles the boost they need to become more mainstream.

Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group will explore opportunities to produce and supply hydrogen to Hyundai, which has been making fuel cell vehicles in low volumes since 2013. Ratcliffe may also use Hyundai’s fuel cell system in the Grenadier, the Land Rover-like sport utility vehicle Ineos plans to bring to market next year.

Makers of cars and chemicals are finding common ground in their pursuit of hydrogen projects. Targets are being set globally to phase out the combustion engine and decarbonize industrial production. Ineos, which makes 300,000 tons of hydrogen annually, could play an instrumental role in helping set up the infrastructure Hyundai needs for models like the Nexo SUV to catch on in Europe.

“There’s verbiage and there’s getting on and doing stuff,” Ineos chief technology officer Peter Williams said. “We would like to do something of serious scale in the next five years.”

For Ratcliffe, 68, helping to kick-start the hydrogen economy would open up more attractive uses for his company’s output of the gas, a byproduct from the electrolysis of brine to make chlorine. Ineos currently uses it for fuel and desulfurization at refineries. It also has underground gas-storage caverns that could be employed for hydrogen.

While the relative growth of battery-electric cars has cast some doubt on the future of fuel-cell vehicles, Hyundai and Toyota Motor Corp. still see enormous potential in their technical advantages. Hydrogen tanks can be refilled faster than batteries recharge, and fuel cells can offer greater driving range. (SD-Agencies)