Hydrogen as a vehicular fuel, is much debated on as it is greener to the environment and allows for lightning quick recharges (in EV standards). While it is yet to be mainstream, more OEMs have been exploring the Hydrogen route. Hyundai is one of those companies and has just revealed its 2nd Gen Nexo based on Initium Concept revealed last year.
Hyundai Nexo Hydrogen Electric Car
One look at the 2nd Gen Hyundai Nexo Hydrogen Electric car, it feels familiar and rings certain bells. That’s because it is based on Hyundai Initium Concept showcased last year in October 2024. It is a complete departure from the 1st Gen Nexo and its curvaceous design language and is now a lot quirkier.
When compared to the The beginning of conceptanyone would be hard pressed to draw differences on the new Nexo. That’s because the production version of Nexo look almost identical to Initium Concept. Except for the toned down alloy wheels, roof carrier and quad-pixel LED headlight and tail light, production-spec Nexo and Initium Concept are virtually identical.
The ‘Art of Steel’ design language used on new Hyundai Nexo reminds me of Pontiac Aztec, which is hailed as one of the worst car designs of all time. However, on Hyundai Nexo, this silhouette looks kinda nice and futuristic owing to the overall coolness factor and rugged SUV appeal, something Aztec didn’t have.
The double dash LED DRL signature along with quad-pixel LED lighting signatures at the front, rugged front and rear bumpers, large alloy wheels, flush door handles, sorta-triangular rear quarter glass, roof rails, rear view cameras, SUV profile, circular wheel arch claddings, tough side body claddings and other exterior elements make a surprisingly cohesive design.
Hyrogen FTW?
On the inside, things are a lot more conventional as the overall dashboard layout is inspired by that of Santa Fe and Palisade. There are two 12.3-inch displays (infotainment and instrumentation), two displays to show rear view camera feed, there is a digital IRVM, a 12-inch HUD and lastly Hyundai and Kia’s slim pill-shaped climate control screen.
There’s a twin-deck centre console and is attached to the dashboard. Gear selector is mounted on steering column and looks like the same unit as we saw in Creta Electric. Steering wheel gets quad dots logo which reads ‘H’ in Morse Code. Also notable is the 14-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system.
Powering this vehicle, we have a 2.64 kWh battery pack which sends juice to a single 201 bhp electric motor promising 0-100 km/h sprint in 7.8 seconds. Continuously replenishing this battery is a 147 bhp Hydrogen fuel cell stack. New Hyundai Nexo Hydrogen Electric car gets larger Hydrogen tank (6.69 kg) as opposed to the 6.33 kg tank and promises a max range of 700 km in one filling. Speaking of, Hydrogen filling hardly takes 5 minutes when compared to EV recharging.
