2019 Hyundai Nexo Review: 380 Miles (on Hydrogen). Can Your EV Go That Far?

The hydrogen-driven 2019 Hyundai Nexo is a polished compact SUV that runs a long way on a tank of fuel, farther than any electric vehicle or competing fuel-cell car. 

It is extremely quiet, comfortable inside, sharp-looking outside, and quick enough to beat a Toyota Prius hybrid in a drag race. The 380-mile range bests the Honda Clarity fuel cell (366 miles) and the Tesla Model S P100D EV (337 miles).

The Hyundai Nexo's dashboard and center stack.

All the superlatives pale compared with the fact the vehicle exists at all. You can buy one this fall for about $55,000-$65,000, as long as you live in California. Of the nation’s 40-some hydrogen refueling stations, all but four are there, mostly between San Diego and San Francisco.

The Nexo stands as a further sign of Hyundai’s arrival as one of the world’s premier automakers, with solid visions for the near and more distant future.



What makes a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle interesting is how it scales for additional range. To give an electric vehicle more range, you add more battery and a lot more weight. Adding hydrogen has minimal impact on weight.

The Nexo’s onboard hydrogen, 6.3 kg, is stored in three tanks at 10,000 psi. A longer range vehicle needs larger tanks, but the weight doesn’t scale up the way battery weight does.

The Nexo fuel cell stack is smaller and lighter than the one used on the previous Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell, at 196 pounds versus 231 pounds, and using 56 grams of platinum versus 78 grams.

 Each fuel cell membrane combines onboard hydrogen with oxygen-containing air. Combining two parts hydrogen plus one part air gives off dihydrogen-oxide, or H2O, plus electrons. Each membrane outputs at 0.5-1.0 volts, so the fuel is stacked to produce higher voltage, just as batteries are in an EV.
 
Hyundai says its internal calculations show a fuel cell making more sense than an EV once you want more than 220 miles of range, or 350 kilometers in metric terms.

The heavier the vehicle, the shorter the break-even point. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, Hyundai brought a fleet of experimental shuttle buses running off hydrogen. Something that big beats electric buses once you drive them 60 miles a day or more.