The Engineer drives: Hyundai Nexo – a glimpse into the hydrogen future?

When asked to name the most technologically advanced car on sale, most people would probably hazard a guess at the current Mercedes S-Class (the latest in a long line of cars that has famously introduced such landmark innovations as ABS, active cruise control and crumple zones). But there’s another contender for that title, which comes not from Stuttgart or Silicon Valley, but from South Korea: the Hyundai Nexo.

The most obvious feature that sets the Nexo apart is the fact it runs on hydrogen. Located in its nose, the fuel-cell stack silently strips electrons away from the most abundant molecule in the universe, creating a steady flow of electric current. This is used to charge a 1.56kWh lithium-ion battery, which provides power to a 120kW electric motor, also mounted under the bonnet. The only tailpipe emissions are purified air (passed through the fuel cell’s sophisticated filtration system) and droplets of water vapour.