Hyundai's hydrogen-powered ix35 turns its hand to growing fish and food

Hyundai has turned their hydrogen powered ix35 in to a fuel cell farm to demonstrate that the only emissions from its tailpipe are water.

The Hyundai ix35 FCEV Fuel Cell Farm outside the London Design Museum

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Hyundai PR do like a slightly left-field take on raising awareness of Hyundai’s products (although they usually involve animals, children, fashion or shopping), so a Hyundai ix35 FCEV turned in to a fuel cell farm should come as no surprise, nor that they parked it outside London’s Design Museum for a bit of extra profile.

With the help of sustainability creatives (who’d have thought there was such a business?) Something & Son, Hyundai has created a Fuel Cell Farm (well, depending on your definition of how big something growing has to be to be called a farm) that uses the emissions from the ix35 FCEV as its water source.

The setup takes the water from the ix35 and feeds it in to the fish tank, the fish do what fish do and the aquaponics gubbins takes that and uses it as food for the plants.

Apart from the fact that the IX35’s emissions must be the most expensive water in London, it works to demonstrate that all that comes out of the tailpipe of a hydrogen-powered car is pure water, with some of the food grown even being used as part of a lunch for invited guests, created by eco-chef Tom Hunt.

Boris the Mayor’s Deputy, Kit Malthouse, was on hand and said:

It’s an absolute pleasure to welcome Hyundai’s Fuel Cell Farm to London. This installation is an imaginative way to bring alive the huge potential of hydrogen technology and I encourage people to come along to the Design Museum to learn more about what could be the most exciting new industry of the 21st century.
We are getting London ready for this massive step forward in propulsion technology by supporting businesses to put fuel on the ground, and consumers to buy zero emission vehicles. London has been at the forefront of mobility advances through the centuries and that’s where we want to stay.

So, a good bit of PR for Hyundai and the Mayor’s Office, especially as Hyundai will soon deliver five ix35 FCEVs to the Greater London Authority.