The Hyundai Nexo Hydrogen FCEV – Hyundai’s replacement for the iX35 FCEV – has already passed the 1,000 sales mark in 2019.
Sales of Hydrogen fuelled cars are still tiny in comparison even to electric cars. But they are growing, despite high prices, and the Hyundai Nexo appears to be leading the charge.We reported last year that the Nexo FCEV was selling twice as fast as the ix35 FCEV ever did, and that looks to be gaining momentum with sales of the Nexo already passing the 1,000 mark just five months in to 2019.
So far this year Hyundai has shifted 1,075 Nexos – 767 in Korea and 308 in the rest of the world – with sales in Korea hitting 363 in April alone.
Sales in Korea are helped by big subsidies as the Korean Government drives adoption of hydrogen-fuelled transport, and Hyundai expect the incentives to drive sales of the Nexo up over 5,000 in 2020.
But the Nexo is clearly making sales in countries without big incentives to buy in to a hydrogen future – like the UK – and we can see why.
Delivering all the advantages of an electric car but without the pain of charging – a hydrogen refuel takes no more time than an ICE fuel fill – hydrogen fuelled cars are appealing.
But, just as it was – and to a degree still is – for electric cars, the obstacle is cost and refuelling infrastructure. But costs will reduce as economies of scale and technology advances kick in, but infrastructure for refuelling hydrogen cars is another matter.
Still, hydrogen-fuelled cars are making progress.
Mark Geller says
Even in Los Angeles, the land of EV ,outside of the Netherlands, is devoid of meaningful hydrogen fills.