Hyundai ix35 FCEV completes record distance on a tank of hydrogen

The Hyundai ix35 FCEV hydrogen compact SUV has broken records for the longest distance by a hydrogen-powered car on a single tank – 435 miles.

Now the Hyundai ix35 FCEV (the hydrogen-powered version of Hyundai’s iz35) is starting to move out in to the real world (in a small way) Hyundai are keen to shout about its abilities.

And perhaps its greatest ability is to do everything an ICE-powered ix35 can do, but doing it using hydrogen to create electricity to power the IX35′ electric motors, but do that in a way that creates a car with the same sort of range as an ICE car and the ability to refuel in a very similar way, and in a very similar time.

So Hyundai decided to fill the tank up on an ix35 FCEV in Oslo and head off to Copenhagen to see if they could do it without needing to fill up.

In fact, when the ix35 FCEV got to Copenhagen, the Hyundai team realised there was a fair bit of fuel left, so they pushed on to Malmo – where, conveniently, a hydrogen refuelling station opened in June – and by the time they arrived they’d covered 435 miles (700km) on a single tank.

Frank Meijer, Head of Fuel Cells at Hyundai Europe, said:

The distance travelled by the ix35 Fuel Cell demonstrates the viability and real-world benefits of hydrogen fuel cell technology – it’s an electric vehicle with long-distance range.

Hyundai Motor is the first automaker to mass-produce fuel cell vehicles, and we continue to promote the growth of Europe’s hydrogen refuelling network.

The drive through three countries in 10 hours on a single tank of fuel – a record for an FCEV – is a perfect demonstration that, subject to a refuelling infrastructure, an electric car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell is far superior to a battery electric car that has a fraction of the range and can take hours to recharge.