New Hyundai Nexo hydrogen car confirmed for Australia with Pontiac Aztek vibes

Hyundai is doubling-down on powertrain guess-hedging with at the moment’s expose of the unusual, second-know-how Hyundai Nexo hydrogen fuel cell electric automobile (FCEV) bringing comprehensive upgrades to powertrain and driving vary while ushering in a replacement of name-first functions.

The unusual Nexo has already been confirmed for Australia for a first half of of 2026 start date. Hyundai operates a miniature hastily of leased Nexos alongside side Australian government and company operators.

What’s going to hit bystanders first is the unusual comely for the Nexo, which ditches the previous mannequin’s earnest visage for a more charismatic shape evoking Eighties and Nineties American crossover styling tropes—including a C/D pillar therapy that will remind about a of Walter White’s Pontiac Aztek.

We mean that in a valid manner, though, since the Nexo’s comprehensively transformed styling will get many more of us drawn to the automobile—though we favor, in section, that the form had been saved for a automobile with a more in-place a matter to powertrain form.

The core energy-electronics machine and fuel cell of the outgoing Nexo have been retained, but their traits have all been upgraded.

On the energy-electronics entrance, an even bigger battery and more energy (190kW plays 135kW) has resulted in a drastic slice to the 0-100km/h acceleration time, with the unusual Nexo making the benchmark flee in 7.8 seconds.

The Nexo can now snatch on marginally more hydrogen (6.69kg, up on the aged Nexo’s 6.33kg tank) but fuel effectivity has additionally improved, which ought to aloof enable about a five percent manufacture in driving vary from 666km (WLTP) within the outgoing model to “more than 700km”.

The economy features attain attributable to aerodynamics, but additionally a brand unusual motor and a excessive-effectivity inverter.

Most importantly, the Nexo retains its signature theoretical advantage over within the same model-sized battery EVs: it finest takes five minutes to fully refuel, mighty esteem an interior combustion automobile.

We are announcing “theoretical” because hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is scarce globally and supremely rare in Australia where finest Toyota and BMW have displayed ephemeral ardour in FCEV passenger autos in most modern years.

Hyundai Motor Firm Australia (HMCA) says there are 9 operational hydrogen refuelling stations in Australia, spanning Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, and two in Melbourne, with a extra eight refuelling stations being constructed.

That infrastructure helps the 35 previous-know-how Nexos at this time deployed by HMCA in Australia on leases. Most are flee by the Australian Capital Territory government (20 units) and Queensland government (five units) with about a sprinkled between gasoline companies, HMCA, and the Korean Embassy in Australia.

HMCA no longer too long ago upgraded its maintain hydrogen refueller in Sydney, which is now able to producing 20kg of green hydrogen (electrolysed by solar vitality fairly than by manner of fossil fuels, as is frequent) on an supreme sunny day.

That might presumably be on the subject of enough green hydrogen to refuel three unusual-know-how Nexos on a supreme day.

HMCA says it has no longer yet made up our minds whether the unusual-know-how Nexo will proceed to be a rent-finest proposition or whether this would maybe promote autos outright. Chasing Vehicles understands that, if sold, the previous-know-how Nexo would have price smartly over $100,000 forward of on-street charges.

Readers might maybe wonder why Hyundai has invested carefully in upgrading the Nexo—including the unusual exterior and interior styling—and the respond is that it’s a ways a mighty more connected automobile in its dwelling market of South Korea.

In 2022, Hyundai sold more than 10,000 Nexo FCEVs in Korea; in 2023 and 2024 the numbers were about 4000 and 3000 respectively because the mannequin grew older. There is a substantial FCEV hastily on Korean roads and mighty more enormous refuelling infrastructure.

Nevertheless hydrogen refuelling in American and European markets—as soon as as soon as more frequent—has change into difficult as some refuellers are no longer replaced, and operators double down on battery electric (BEV) charging infrastructure to complement used petrol/diesel refuelling.

Externally, the unusual Nexo fits “four-dot” headlights and 18-shuffle wheels as long-established while digital aspect mirrors aid to decrease its coefficient of trudge. The Nexo ushers in a brand unusual form language for Hyundai dubbed “art work of metal”.

An accessible color, “Goyo Copper Pearl,” makes use of a three-coat list route of so that you might shifting tones underneath diversified lights.

Within, the Nexo fits Hyundai’s excessive-cease leisure electric entrance seats in artificial leather-esteem arena cloth with heating and cooling, a unethical and joined infotainment inform their personal praises, as smartly as reclining rear seats.