Late last year, a report emerged about Hyundai's hydrogen development hurdles. The Chosun Ilbo said engineering of a third-generation fuel cell stack had been stopped, but a spokesperson for the South Korean company was quick to refute the rumor: "The automaker denies the speculation, claiming its roadmap on next-generation fuel cell development remains intact." Fast forward to June 2022, a new report about a similar issue has emerged.
Automotive News Europe cites the Seoul Economic Daily that Hyundai has decided to push back the launch of a second-generation Nexo. The hydrogen-fueled crossover was originally scheduled for a release in the second half of next year but its launch has apparently been delayed to sometime in 2024. The newspaper caught wind of the development issues from a supplier. Once again, it appears the engineers are having issues perfecting the fuel cell setup. Contacted by ANE, Hyundai declined to comment.
2019 Hyundai Nexo: First Drive
According to the Seoul Economic Daily, Hyundai has yet to decide whether its luxury division Genesis will launch hydrogen models. As some of you will recall, the automaker expressed its desire to popularize this technology when it presented the Hydrogen Vision 2040 plan last year. The next-gen fuel cell stack was touted as being 30 percent smaller while packing twice the juice and lowering manufacturing costs by over 50 percent.
Hyundai has said this third-generation setup will come in 100 kW and 200 kW, with the latter conceived for commercial vehicles with a fuel cell stack similar in size to the one used in the current Nexo. One of the goals during development is to increase durability by 50 to 100 percent, with the hardware intended for commercial use to cover 500,000 kilometers (310,685 miles). Costs are targeted to halve and help Hyundai achieve cost parity with battery-powered EVs by the end of this decade.
Hyundai also previewed the performance credentials of a rear-wheel-drive hydrogen car by showing the Vision FK. It was a sporty two-door concept that looked to be a distant cousin of the Kia Stinger with 671 horsepower (500 kilowatts) to achieve a 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) sprint in less than four seconds. The range was quoted at more than 373 miles (600 kilometers) from a mid-mounted hydrogen fuel cell.
Through May this year, Hyundai managed to sell 3,978 Nexo crossovers at home in Korea and another 120 delivered to export markets.
