Hyundai reveals 'overkill' sports car

A stunningly fast “technical overkill” Hyundai fuel-cell electric sports car highlighting the performance potential of hydrogen fuel has been confirmed as a pointer to future production vehicles.

Teased last week, the rear-wheel drive Hyundai Vision FK was unveiled and detailed during a Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) hydrogen promotion event today.

Co-developed with Croatian EV performance specialist Rimac, the Hyundai Vision FK produces more than 500kW from its e-motor driveline and accelerates from 0-100km/h in less than four seconds.

It combines that with an expected range of more than 600km between refills of its hydrogen tank.

HMG product development chief Albert Biermann confirmed the Vison FK was more than just headline-grabbing eye-candy.

“Collaboration with Rimac is being carried out in various fields, including Vision FK, a concept vehicle currently under development that will become the basis for mass-produced, hydrogen-powered, high-performance vehicles in the future,” he said.

“The evolving Vision FK will be shown at various events in the future.”

Biermann also confirmed HMG’s next FCEV production passenger vehicle would be a second-generation Hyundai NEXO SUV in the second half of 2023 and a fuel-cell Hyundai Staria people-mover by the end of 2023.

But fellow HMG brands Kia and Genesis will not add FCEV powertrains until after 2025.

Dubbed Hydrogen Wave, the HMG presentation debuted on the web today with an underpinning commitment to popularise hydrogen by 2040 for “Everyone, Everything and Everywhere”.

“The degree and frequency of environmental disasters is rising fast and we now face a code red warning for humanity,” said HMG chairman Euisun Chung.

“The group seeks to offer powerful and pragmatic solutions for combatting climate change via the tremendous potential of hydrogen energy.”

Hyundai is currently selling limited numbers of the NEXO hydrogen fuel-cell SUV in Australia and has rolled out its first FCEV truck, the Xcient, for trial in Switzerland.

An upgraded FCEV truck will arrive in 2023.

The presentation also included a Hyundai promise to dramatically improve FCEV technology by 2023 with new 100kW and 200kW third-generation fuel-cell systems and attain price equivalency with battery-electric vehicles by 2030.

Along with the Vision FK, Hyundai also showed a heavy-duty autonomous trailer drone concept and revealed its ambition to offer FCEV and battery-electric powertrains across its entire commercial vehicle range by 2028.

It also showed FCEVs for emergency relief and rescue missions.

HMG also wants to apply fuel-cell systems to  “all types of mobility and furthering the technology to all other aspects of society including homes, buildings and powerplants as energy solutions”.

But it was the Vision FK that was most interesting for automotive fans. It was introduced by Bierman, who is best known for developing the Hyundai N performance division and the Kia Stinger.

“Our engineers combined a hydrogen fuel-cell energy converter with a high-power rear-wheel drive plug-in PE (power electric) system,” confirmed Biermann.

“Hyundai’s high-performance car brand, Hyundai N, has proven its technological prowess by winning many international motorsport competitions.

“Now such technological prowess will be applied to the high-performance fuel-cell EVs and could eventually compete in motorsports.

“I have to admit that the Vison FK prototype is a bit of technical overkill but it is an exciting challenge for our ambitious engineers.

“‘The packaging situation is extremely complicated, so we decided to collaborate with Rimac Automobili in which Hyundai Group invested in 2019.

“We developed the power electric system with Rimac while our high-performance and fuel-cell engineers developed all other systems of the Vison FPK prototype.”

But Biermann made it clear FCEV still lagged well behind BEV for high-performance applications.

“At this stage with the fuel-cell car we cannot beat the battery-electric vehicle,” he said. “But this is just starting and the potential of fuel-cell technology has not been fully deployed yet.

“We are really working now on high-powered fuel cells with different chemistries and so on. The time will come when the competition is very tough even in sports cars or motorsports.”