What’s It Like To Drive 900 Miles In A Hyundai Nexo Hydrogen Car?

In a single word … expensive. In two words … expensive and difficult.

It seems the lack of a hydrogen infrastructure limits the Hyundai NEXO capabilities.

In a joint review of the Hyundai NEXO, Mr. Mobile [Michael Fisher] and Joshua Vergara, drove the car 900 miles (1,450 km) from San Diego to Sacramento over five days.

The NEXO made a good impression and was considered the best hydrogen fuel cell model so far. (better than Toyota Mirai) It’s got great features and comfort.

With more than 300 miles of range on a tank and 5-minute refuel, it could be a perfect zero-emission car. However, there are only 36 hydrogen stations in California (not even talking about the hydrogen desert in other states). Furthermore, the gap between them sometimes forces one to change the route. That was the case in the review and likely in real life, too.

“In some alternate reality, it’s not electric cars replacing gas-guzzlers on the nation’s highways, but hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. I recently got a glimpse of that alternate timeline, spending five days behind the wheel of Hyundai’s newest hydrogen car, the NEXO. My co-pilot: Joshua Vergara of JVTechTea. My mission? A 900-mile road trip from San Diego to Sacramento using nothing but hydrogen … and leaving nothing but water behind. Spoiler alert: we accomplished our mission, but not exactly the way we’d planned. Join Joshua Vergara and MrMobile for the Hyundai NEXO Review!”

The other thing is that the cost of refueling was always above $80. NEXO can store up to 6.3 kg of hydrogen and if 1 kg cost more than $16, then, of course, it’s expensive to run. Combined with a price tag between $58,300 and $61,800, the NEXO will not be able to compete with electric cars at similar prices. Those cars have a solid fast-charging infrastructure and a much lower energy cost per mile.

Separate relation from the trip by Joshua Vergara:

For almost an entire week, MrMobile (Michael Fisher) and I spent time in a car basically from the future – the Hyundai NEXO. With all of the bells and whistles you could want in a road trip vehicle, our trip was propelled by a still new alternative fuel source: hydrogen. See how our journey unfolded on this trip from San Diego to Napa Valley wine country!

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Hyundai Nexo specs:

• about 370 miles (595 km)
• 0-60 mph in 9.5 seconds
• 120 kW and 395 Nm electric motor
• fuel cell is able to provide around 95 kW of power, together with 40 kW from the battery. A total output of 135 kW is available