Hydrogen cars don't have engines

Tuesday, 3 December 2019

How does Hyundai's Nexo fuel-cell car work in the real world?

Hydrogen-powered cars are a bit misunderstood, which is to be expected because they are a bit new.

Although perhaps not as new as you think. Honda had a hydrogen car for sale a decade ago and its latest, the Clarity FCV, was launched in 2017. Toyota's production hydrogen car, the Mirai, was unveiled back in 2014.

Hydrogen cars are new to us Kiwis because you've never been able to buy one here. That's because they require special filling stations and we don't have any.

Magic happens inside the Nexo's fuel cells to make electricity.

But we're all talking hydrogen at the moment because Hyundai NZ has imported two (soon to be three) examples of its Nexo hydrogen-powered SUV - not to sell, but to show off what the parent company is up to with the technology.

**READ MORE:

* [First drive road test review: Hyundai Nexo

](https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/road-tests/117738145/first-drive-road-test-review-hyundai-nexo?rm=a)* Drink to the future of hydrogen cars

Hydrogen Nexo is not that different to any other SUV from the outside. Which is why it's confusing.

* Oh Lord, won't you buy me a hydrogen fuel-cell car?**

Couple of key things about all these modern hydrogen cars: they are in fact a type of electric vehicle (EV). You do not plug them in though; you fill them with hydrogen, which is stored at very high pressure. It's mixed with purified air in a fuel cell, creating a chemical reaction that produces electricity. That's why hydrogen cars are often called fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

An especially confusing thing about FCEVs is that you don't really run them like plug-in EVs. They have big tanks, big range (the Nexo does 660km on a fill) and an exhaust pipe - although only water comes out. You kind of treat them like a petrol or diesel car: drive until it's near empty and then fill up again, which is almost as quick as filling with petrol - about five minutes for the Hyundai.

But because they seem so similar to petrol or diesel cars, lots of people think they still have engines; combustion engines that are simply fuelled by hydrogen.

While some early prototype hydrogen cars did work like that (BMW and Mazda made some), a modern FCEV just has that fuel cell that makes an electric motor go. Like any other EV.

Another popular misconception is that hydrogen cars must be dangerous. Presumably something to do with H-bombs.

In fact they are very safe. The hydrogen is stored in tanks-within-tanks that can withstand huge impact and even if one does get punctured, it's likely the hydrogen would simply seep out because it's lighter than air. Unlike petrol. The Nexo already has a five-star crash-test rating.

And no, plug-ins and hydrogen cars are not in a winner-takes-all battle for supremacy. It's not one or the other. They're both simply part of the future of zero-emissions driving. Although don't expect hydrogen to be widely available in NZ for a few years yet.