By Jino Kim, PhD
CEO, CoreDIT (jokim1201@coredit.co.kr)
Industrial transitions are not driven by technology alone. They take hold when new operating models emerge that resolve the structural limits of existing systems. Just as steam engines reshaped logistics and internal combustion engines transformed mobility, today’s mobility sector is being redefined by the shift in energy systems.
Fossil fuel-based transport is increasingly constrained by environmental regulation and resource limits. In response, electrification and hydrogen-based mobility are expanding rapidly. Hydrogen mobility, however, differs from conventional automotive industries in that it combines vehicle technology with energy supply and infrastructure operations.
Yet the industry continues to be assessed largely through a deployment lens. Metrics such as the number of vehicles distributed or stations installed have dominated both policy and investment decisions. Recent data suggest this approach is reaching its limits.
As of the end of 2025, hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in Korea exceeded 44,000 units, while hydrogen refuelling stations reached 461. On the surface, the sector appears to have moved beyond the early stage into broader adoption. But user experience tells a different story.
Despite growth in vehicle numbers, perceptions of inconvenience persist. Drivers still struggle to locate stations, encounter outages upon arrival, or face long waiting times. The issue is not simply a shortage of infrastructure, but the way it is operated.
Hydrogen refuelling stations are complex systems. Unlike electric chargers, they rely on high-pressure storage, compressors, cooling systems and coordinated hydrogen logistics. A failure in any one component can halt the entire service, introducing uncertainty for users. Expanding the number of stations alone does not resolve this.
Ultimately, what matters is not installation volume but operational quality. The competitiveness of hydrogen mobility is determined less by vehicle performance than by the reliability of infrastructure. Low uptime, long queues or unstable supply can undermine user confidence regardless of scale.
In this sense, hydrogen mobility resembles an operations-driven industry rather than a manufacturing one. The critical question is not how many vehicles are produced, but how consistently infrastructure can be run.
Policy frameworks, therefore, need to shift accordingly. Instead of focusing on deployment targets, performance metrics such as uptime, service quality and supply reliability should define outcomes. Support mechanisms should be aligned with operational performance rather than installation counts.
Infrastructure strategy also requires recalibration. Expanding stations evenly across regions may dilute efficiency. A more effective approach is to develop cluster-based infrastructure around concentrated demand hubs such as airports, ports, logistics centres and bus depots, where high utilisation and stable operations can be achieved.
Operators, too, must evolve. Beyond managing physical assets, they need capabilities in data-driven optimisation — including real-time demand forecasting, queue management, equipment monitoring and supply planning. Hydrogen infrastructure is no longer just hardware; it is becoming a digitally managed system.
The application of hydrogen mobility also warrants reconsideration. While passenger vehicles remain important, the strongest economic and operational case lies in high-utilisation segments such as buses, logistics fleets and public vehicles. In such environments, optimisation effects are magnified.
Crucially, operational uncertainty affects not only user experience but also market adoption. If refuelling cannot be trusted, consumers delay purchasing decisions, reinforcing a cycle of stalled uptake. Operational quality, therefore, becomes a defining variable in market formation.
Reflecting this shift, leading countries are gradually moving policy emphasis from infrastructure expansion to operational reliability. This signals a broader change in how competitiveness in hydrogen mobility will be defined in the years ahead.
About the author
Jino Kim, PhD, is CEO of CoreDIT Co., Ltd., with a focus on systems engineering and intelligent transportation systems. He currently serves as Vice President of the Korea Society of Systems Engineering and is a member of the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society.
