Hyundai Nexo hydrogen outperforms itself again with the same driver and the same car
Hyundai has broken the previous record for a hydrogen car set in 2019 by a French driver. In the new test, the Hyundai Nexo hydrogen car made a trip from Melbourne to Broken Hill, of course, there was no exhaust, but only water vapor through the exhaust pipe and it is setting an unofficial long-distance record.
Its new flight has a total distance of 887.5 kilometers. That’s according to the car’s odometer – which beats the previous record for a hydrogen car driving distance of 778 km set in 2019 by French driver Bertrand Piccard, who was also at the wheel of the Hyundai Nexo on its previous ride.
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Hyundai Nexo is one of two hydrogen vehicles participating in Hyundai’s fleet trials in Australia.
So far, such vehicles have not been sold to the wider public in Australia because the refueling infrastructure is in its infancy.
Hydrogen fuel stations are not uniform and have not yet spread, and perhaps that is why they are coming back on a trailer known as a salvage car trailer.
Perhaps not many know that
Hyundai has a fleet of 20 hydrogen vehicles on trial in Canberra while Toyota has a fleet of 20 hydrogen vehicles on trial in Melbourne .
The Brisbane trial of 5 more hydrogen Nexo cars is set to begin later this year, once a refueling point is opened there.
Although there were no hydrogen refueling stations along this trip, the fuel flap on the Hyundai Nexo was sealed by a RACV representative in Melbourne and checked on arrival by an NRMA representative in Broken Hill.
The car was transported back to Sydney on the back of a trailer because, unlike Toyota, Hyundai does not have mobile hydrogen fuel on the back of the truck.
While trying to score, Nexo was driven by professional rally driver Brendan Reeves, starting with Essendon Fields who was driving it in suburban Melbourne.
After 807 kilometers of “efficiency focused driving,” the Nexo has reached Broken Hill and plenty of range still appears on the vehicle’s trip computer.
The organizers then decided to continue the trip to Silverton – better known as the location of the 1980s action movie Mad Max 2.
The Hyundai Nexo continued to overtake Silverton for another 60 kilometers until the hydrogen tank ran out on Wilangee Road near Eldee Station.
Hyundai says the total mileage was 887.5 km, according to Nexo’s trip computer.
This surpassed the previous record of 778 kilometers in France – also in the Hyundai Nexo – set in 2019 in a race from Sarreguemines to Le Bourget.
However, long-distance hydrogen cars are not recognized by the Guinness Book of Records, and at this point Hyundai maintains the data.
But interestingly, the distance measured by a separate GPS unit on the Hyundai Nexo showed a mileage of 903.4km, and Google Maps showed a distance of 905km.
This is despite the fact that speedometers and odometers usually tend to overestimate the vehicle’s speed and distance to ensure that drivers abide by speed laws.
However, for testing purposes, the Hyundai Nexo’s trip computer was used as the official distance recorder.
Hyundai says the trip took 13 hours and six minutes.
For extra distance, the car was driven at a modest average speed of 66.9 km/h – much slower than the 110 km/h speed limit on remote NSW roads.
The company said the Hyundai Nexo’s low fuel warning first lit at 686 km, “with more than 200 km of range remaining from that point” after the red fuel tank marker was lit.
“The fuel light started flashing after 796 km, with 90 km remaining from the actual range,” Hyundai says.
Data provided by Hyundai, during the flight, show that the Nexo consumed a total of 6.27 kg of hydrogen, at an average of 0.706 kg / 100 km.
Unlike an electric vehicle, hydrogen-powered vehicles take three to five minutes to refuel from empty to full — similar to the time it takes to charge a gasoline-powered vehicle.
Hyundai claims that the Nexo purified 449,100 liters of air during the flight – enough for 33 adults to breathe in one day – and that the plastic exhaust pipe emits only water vapor.
Whereas a standard gasoline car would have emit an estimated 126 kg of CO2 over the same distance, the Hyundai Nexo had no emissions other than heat and water vapor.
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