07:53 10-10-2025

Hyundai and PlusAI's hydrogen-powered autonomous truck joins TIME's Best Inventions

For more than two decades, TIME has published its annual list of the year’s best inventions, spotlighting innovations that reshape how we live, work, and move. This year, among 300 breakthrough ideas, an industry-defining entry from Hyundai Motor and PlusAI made the cut: a hydrogen-powered autonomous truck, the XCIENT Fuel Cell Class 8. The nod signals how quickly long-haul freight is gravitating toward cleaner and smarter platforms.

The award-winning truck pairs Hyundai Motor’s proven XCIENT Fuel Cell Class 8 heavy-duty platform—described as the world’s first mass-produced hydrogen-powered heavy-duty truck—with PlusAI’s Level 4 SuperDrive™ autonomous virtual driver. The result is a cutting-edge long-haul solution that delivers zero tailpipe emissions while enhancing logistics efficiency. On paper, the combination looks purpose-built for the endless interstates and unforgiving schedules that define the segment.

Since its global launch in 2020, the XCIENT Fuel Cell Class 8 has been introduced in ten countries, including Korea, the United States, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, and Israel. Having logged nearly 10 million miles worldwide, XCIENT Fuel Cell continues to underscore Hyundai’s technological leadership in hydrogen mobility across diverse markets—mileage that suggests a platform gathering hard-earned real-world data rather than a lab-bound prototype.