HGS receives the first hydrogen fuel cell electric car in Hungary.

The Budapest Hydrogen Summit was held on 10 March 2022, and was opened by Dr. László Palkovics, Minister of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology. The conference provided an excellent opportunity for Ákos Kriston, Chairman and CEO of the Hungarian Gas Storage Ltd, participating in one of the panel discussions of the event, to receive the keys to the first hydrogen fuel cell electric Toyota Mirai delivered to a client in Hungary, from Richárd László, Country Director of Toyota Hungary, who also attended the summit as a panel discussion guest.

“It is of prime importance for us that as the first green hydrogen producing facility in Hungary, we are also the first in our country to start gaining in-depth, hands-on knowledge and experience in the practical use of hydrogen. The Toyota Mirai we put into service in our fleet will play an important role in this process” said Ákos Kriston.

“It was an essential milestone for the Hungarian zero-emission hydrogen-based society, when last year, Linde opened the first, not yet public hydrogen filling station in the country, which paved the way for launching the marketing of Mirai. Although we have received a number of partnership enquiries for the car since then, until the opening of public filling stations, we prefer to make the car available to professional partners only. Therefore, it is extremely important for us that Hungarian Gas Storage Ltd has has decided to put the car into service”, Richárd László pointed out, adding that in the absence of previous domestic experience, Mercarius Fleet Management Company also has a paramount role, as they are the first to offer a leasing scheme for hydrogen fuel cell electric cars in Hungary.

Zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles emitting clean water as by-product could later play an important role not only in passenger cars, but also in public transport and in road freight transport. However, their widespread use will most certainly require a domestic hydrogen filling station infrastructure, the development of which has already begun. Several public filling stations are planned to be opened in Hungary soon, introducing the absolute green technology of the future to even more companies and to the larger public.

Photo:

Gyula Szabó, Sales Director at Mercarius

Richárd László, Country Director for Hungary at Toyota

Ákos Kriston, Chairman and CEO of Hungarian Gas Storage Ltd.

Andrea Pethő, Managing Director of Emil Frey