Hydrogen-Powered Hyundai Nexo Sets World Record With 551.5-Mile One Tank Journey

Behind the wheel of the Korean crossover was none other than Australian rally driver Brendan Reeves, who started his journey with the Nexo from the Essendon Fields in Melbourne. After driving as efficiently as possible for 501 miles (807 km), he arrived in Broken Hill with plenty of range still available according to the vehicle’s trip computer.

He then continued driving to Silverton, an outback town on the outskirts of Broken Hill, which, fun fact, was where the 1980s post-apocalyptic action movie Mad Max 2 was filmed. Once there, he continued for another some 37 miles (60 km) before the Nexo’s hydrogen tank was actually depleted, as the car stopped on the Wilangee road, beyond Eldee Station.

This latest run easily exceeded the previous world record of 483 miles (778 km) set by French aeronaut Bertrand Piccard, who drove across France from Sarreguemines to Le Bourget.

What’s interesting is that a separate GPS unit inside the Nexo registered a total of 561.3 miles (903.4 km) traveled, while Google Maps indicated 562.3 miles (905 km). However, for this test, the crossover’s trip computer was used as the official distance recorder.

“Being a rally driver, I’ve always wanted to achieve a world record, but I could never have guessed it would come about this way,” said Reeves. “As we set out from Essendon Fields in the early morning, I found Nexo immediately familiar and easy to drive – the controls are intuitive and easy to use, the driving position excellent and seats very comfortable.”

Reeves’s journey took 13 hours and six minutes, as he averaged a speed of 41.6 mph (66.9 kph). The Nexo’s low fuel warning first lit up at 426 miles (686 km), at which point the car still had over 124 miles (200 km) of range. That indicator started flashing after 494 miles (796 km), with 56 miles (90 km) of real range remaining.

According to Hyundai, the Nexo utilized a total of 6.27 kg (13.8 lbs) of hydrogen for this trip, at a rate of 0.706 kg/100 km (1.55 lbs/62 miles), thus purifying 449,100 liters (15,860 cu ft) of air. That’s enough for 33 adults to breathe in a day. Furthermore, it also emitted zero CO2, whereas a normal internal combustion engine vehicle would have emitted about 126 kg (278 lbs) of CO2 over that same distance.