Hyundai Nexo review

Owning a hydrogen-powered car in Britain is not easy. Mainly because there aren’t many filling stations. As of right now there are 26, and unless you live close to or pass one regularly, we wouldn’t recommend you buy an FCV. Not until the infrastructure is in place. We’ve come this far without mentioning the Nexo’s range, but now’s the time. On the NEDC cycle it’s 500 miles, which is bloody impressive. Real world Hyundai estimates around 370 miles, which is still more than, say, a Tesla will do day-to-day, and on-par with internal combustion-powered cars.

Second problem is that the FCVs themselves are often prohibitively expensive. Pricing and UK specs haven’t been announced for the Nexo yet, but the old ix35 FCV sold for £53,105 and what’s likely to be the Hyundai’s main competitor – the Toyota Mirai – is £66,000. When it arrives in the UK in early 2019, the Nexo will not be a cheap car. Far from it, in fact. But if you’re a committed early adopter odds are there’ll be some kind of lease deal that takes the sting out of it.

But for the expense, the Nexo is a much more attractive proposition than the ix35 because its powertrain is so much more durable. “A highly durable membrane electrode catalyst and new drive control technology” means the Nexo has “unprecedented durability that is on a par with an internal combustion engine vehicle of at least 10 years and 160,000 kilometers (100,000 miles)” says its maker. In layman’s terms, you’ve got a decade before the fuel cell is spent and you need a new car. The ix35 would only last five years. Still, expect residuals for nine-year Nexos to be genuinely catastrophic.