Nearly every week, new battery-electric cars are unveiled. Keeping up with the pace is a challenge, yet Hyundai has still found room to concentrate on another way of powering electric vehicles: the hydrogen fuel cell.
Today, at the Seoul Mobility Show (South Korea), it revealed the next-generation Hyundai Nexo alongside the facelifted IONIQ 6. Rather than storing energy in large batteries, this second-generation Nexo uses a fuel cell stack that turns hydrogen into electrical current. The outcome? Nothing but pure water leaving the tailpipe.
It’s a system we previously explained in a video, using the first-generation Hyundai Nexo that is now being phased out.
Hydrogen continues to evolve
Hyundai’s South Korean engineers have been developing this propulsion technology for more than 25 years. With this second-generation Hyundai Nexo, the brand has not only reshaped the exterior design, but has also made substantial progress in its fuel-cell powertrain.
From a styling point of view, the striking pixel-style headlights look like they belong in a science-fiction film-although by now we are used to them, thanks to Hyundai’s most recent models such as the IONIQ 9, the Santa Fe and the small electric Inster.
Performance increase
Compared with its predecessor, output is up. The new electric motor produces up to 150 kW (204 hp), improving on the previous model’s 120 kW (163 hp), although torque drops to 350 Nm versus the earlier car’s 395 Nm-while remaining front-wheel drive. The extra power improves acceleration: 0–100 km/h now takes 7.8s (previously 9.2s), and top speed rises from 172 km/h to 179 km/h.
The complete system (fuel cell plus the 2.64 kWh battery) that supplies the motor is also more powerful, while the three hydrogen tanks gain only a marginal increase in capacity, from 6.33 kg to 6.69 kg.
Hyundai claims a driving range of 650 km, broadly in line with the first Nexo. The hydrogen tanks can be fully refuelled in just five minutes.
The company also highlights improvements in how the system operates in sub-zero temperatures. Thanks to a new generation of membranes, engineers say cold starts in these conditions can be carried out more quickly.
Modern interior
Inside, the 4.75 m-long Nexo (up 8 cm versus before) raises the level of comfort and features the familiar control modules and displays found in Hyundai’s latest models: two adjacent 12.3-inch screens, one for the instrument cluster and one for infotainment.
There are plenty of soft-touch surfaces, lots of storage for small items, multi-zone automatic air conditioning, climate-controlled seats, several USB ports and two wireless charging pads for phones.
With the rear backrests folded down, luggage capacity grows from 493 litres to 1719 litres. Optionally, the Hyundai Nexo can be ordered with digital rear-view mirrors, both external and internal.
For anyone planning to lend the Nexo to a large family or a wide circle of friends, the car includes a digital key that can be shared with up to 15 devices.
How does a fuel cell work?
The fuel-cell system is based on LT (low-temperature) PEM (proton-exchange membrane) modules. Individual cells are combined to create a stack. In the fuel cell, each membrane sits between an anode and a cathode. Hydrogen flows into the cell at the anode side, and oxygen enters at the cathode side. The hydrogen and oxygen react and combine to form water at the cathode, releasing energy in the process.
At the anode, hydrogen is split into electrons and protons. The positively charged protons “migrate” through the membrane to the cathode. The negatively charged electrons travel to the cathode via the external electrical circuit. This flow of electrical current provides the necessary electrical energy. At the cathode, the protons react with incoming oxygen and the electrons to produce “processed water”, most of which exits via the exhaust system.
Energy efficiency (the ability to convert the fuel-hydrogen in this case-into usable energy to move the wheels) reaches 60%, well above the 40% achieved by the best hybrids on the market or a combustion-engine vehicle (around 30%), even if it remains below a battery-electric car (always above 70% at worst).
The fuel cell converts the chemical energy from the oxidation process directly into electrical energy; this oxidation process is also known as “cold combustion”. The “gases” released from the exhaust are nothing more than clean water vapour.
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