Hydrogen offers a neutral character from the environmental point of view and an autonomy close to that of traditional vehicles, something that battery electric cars can not offer up to now

The Hyundai Nexo has a 163-horsepower electric motor, a 40-kilowatt battery and a 95-kilowatt fuel cell.

After a decade of silence about its viability as an energy to propel vehicles, hydrogen is beginning to sound strong again in the plans of several car brands. The Korean Hyundai is one of the most active in this field and insists on the path marked by the Tucson Fuel Cell with another model also of SUV format and driven by a fuel cell, the Nexo.

Presented at the Geneva Motor Show last year and once again exhibited at the CES in Las Vegas a month ago, the Nexo is part of a company plan to introduce 2025 up to 18 clean energy vehicles, in which case the It provides the simplest and most abundant chemical element in the universe, yes, but it has the disadvantage of not being in a pure state in nature.

Hydrogen vehicles make use, with rare exceptions in that it is directly burned, of a fuel cell, ie a galvanic battery in which the chemical energy of the fuel (hydrogen and oxygen) is converted directly into electrical energy through of an electrochemical process. The electricity generated passes to batteries that feed the motor, as in any electric vehicle, and the only thing that is emitted into the atmosphere is water vapor and nitrogen.

The Hyundai Nexo insists on the path marked by the Tucson Fuel Cell.

The great virtues that hydrogen provides are its neutral nature from the environmental point of view -whenever it comes from renewable sources, of course-, and an autonomy close to that of traditional vehicles, something that electric cars can not offer up to now. battery.

In order to compensate for the weaknesses of the Tucson Fuel Cell, which was its first hydrogen vehicle produced on a large scale, Hyundai has sought for the Nexo improvements in acceleration, power and autonomy, which now reaches 168 kilometers more: 596 in total. It has also worked the start-up in extreme conditions, so that the new model starts at temperatures of up to -29 degrees in less than 30 seconds.

Other advances with respect to that 2013 model have to do with the air supply system, the high altitude performance, the refueling time, the energy density and the durability with respect to the combustion engines, all together with a more refined general behavior.

The Nexus is part of a Hyundai plan to introduce 2025 up to 18 clean energy vehicles before 2025.

The necessary technology for the operation of the Nexus is basically composed of a 163-horsepower electric motor, a 40-kilowatt battery and a 95-kilowatt fuel cell, plus the corresponding hydrogen tanks, made of an aluminum alloy and a compound of carbon and that recharge in less than five minutes.

Hyundai announces the launch of the Nexo throughout 2018, although it does not specify the scope of commercialization. It is logical, because the development of this technology is still in an incipient state and the supply infrastructure is almost nonexistent, at the moment, in countries like ours. Although on paper is perfect for a mobility that is both sustainable and effective, it is still early to become popular among users.

Pedro Umbert -THE DIARY – 02/16/2018  (Translation Soft)