Hydrogen cars still off-limits to public, says Hyundai

The ground-breaking new hydrogen-powered Hyundai Nexo will be confined to fleet and government sales in Australia for the foreseeable due to a lack of public refuelling infrastructure, says Hyundai officials.

The FCEV SUV will be the first salvo in Hyundai’s ‘11 models in 11 months’ new model onslaught to touch down in Australia in the third quarter of this year.

Hyundai says the ACT government has purchased 20 Nexo FCEVs as part of a broader contract. However, with hydrogen refuelling stations limited to less than a handful of examples in Australia, Hyundai will not be offering the Nexo to the broader private market for the time being.

“Those conversations haven’t taken place beyond what we’ve spoken about previously,” said Scott Nargar, senior manager of future mobility at Hyundai Australia, in reference to the private passenger market.

“It’s more about the infrastructure. The target for that is really working with the states and the government to see when a station can be deployed and how we can run technology from that station – whether that’s supplying hydrogen to trucks and buses, whether there’s industrial applications.

“Whether we’re making it on site or transporting it to locations, we’re looking at different routes across Australia and opportunities to link in cities for viable opportunities.

“The more drivetrains we can run off a station, whoever has invested can make their money back quicker. It’s all about how we can get their funds – because stations aren’t cheap.”

The Hyundai Nexo combines a 95kW hydrogen fuel-cell stack and a floor-mounted 40kW battery pack to power a 120kW/395Nm electric motor, providing a total range of 666km on the WLTP cycle.

It’s a system that bypasses the hours of charging required by many battery-electric vehicles, with the hydrogen fuel-cell taking just a bit longer to refill than the average petrol tank (five minutes from empty).

Hyundai is among a small number of car-makers at the forefront of FCEV technology, also including Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, but the Korean brand is the first to sell a fuel-cell vehicle in Australia.

Nargar says the initial use of hydrogen power by governments will help drive public take-up, as with regular EVs.

“We are expecting a growth in the market, especially with the investments that have been announced for all EV cars,” he said.

“We’re seeing more competition coming here as well, and that’s going to help drive consumer awareness of the technology, and it will help drive private and government investment, which is critical.

“Between June last year and June this year there’s been a real increase in charging options.”

Nargar believes hydrogen will be more popular in larger vehicles and in commercial long-range applications, whereas EVs will be more prevalent in passenger vehicles in Australia.

“We don’t see hydrogen fuel-cell in a light or small segment vehicle,” he said.

“The crossover is probably medium-to-large SUVs. We do see electric buses and trucks, but you look at the capacity needed to move those weights… and the way you fill up those, it’s a lot easier with hydrogen.”