Hyundai, Korea’s leading car manufacturer, offers the Nexo as its premier eco-friendly SUV. It is a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle that features 5 doors, a maximum power of 120kW and a maximum speed of 111.225 miles per hour.[1] Since it utilizes hydrogen fuel, it boasts the environmentally friendly feature of having water as its only emission. It is also advertised to have high-performance air filters, a 372 mile range before needing refueling. On top of that it also been stated to take just five minutes to refuel.It also sports Hyundai’s SmartSense with forward, rear, and blind spot collision assistance. [2]
Sounds amazing, but what’s the catch?
Fueling
As it turns out, it was very expensive to use, with drivers stating that they were spending more on fuel compared to their gas cars. It drained its fuel very quickly and needed to be refueled as frequently as every 2 days compared to every week for a gas car. The fact that fuel prices rose from $13 per kilogram to $39 per kilogram also made the vehicle significantly more costly to use, contrary to its promotion as a fuel efficient vehicle.
They’ve also experienced long waiting times at refueling stations, and once they got to refuel, the refueling nozzles would occasionally freeze. This made it very unreliable as a vehicle for daily use. Customers even experienced depleting all their fuel just to get home, and needing to have their Nexo towed to the fueling station. The Nexo is advertised to have a range of 372 miles on their website, but owners have experienced the actual range to be up to 300, and some experiencing range as low as 200 to 280 miles.
Fueling stations also proved to be just as unreliable. Available refueling stations would have long lines with other drivers experiencing the same issues as each other. To make things worse, fueling stations also go through long shutdowns, with one driver stating that the station most convenient for them would be offline for over 500 days. Drivers would be informed of the schedule of fuel delivery, but this results in hours of their time waiting for fuel to arrive and then waiting for their turn on the pump. One driver became stranded after driving over 100 miles to a station only to discover that the station was offline.
Vehicle Servicing
Every car needs service from time to time, but given the specialized needs for a hydrogen vehicle like the Hyundai Nexo, customers must get it from official service locations. One Driver had to wait as long as four months for an appointment with Capitol Hyundai. Difficulty in accessing such infrastructure has made it difficult for drivers to use the Nexo as their main car.
Another owner had damage on their radiator and needed repairs, however, given that the Nexo is not a typical gasoline vehicle, it had to undergo repairs at Hyundai’s specialized facility. This process took three months, and cost $15,000 through insurance.
Other experiences
Other features of the vehicle also proved to be unreliable, with customers experiencing issues with the vehicle’s cruise control, Bluelink functions, USB connectors, and acceleration. Customers also had to deal with strange noises coming from the vehicle during use, with assistance from dealerships proving to be unhelpful. News of recalls due to fire safety concerns certainly didn’t help with customer anxiety. A buyer had to incur costs in finding a safe place to park the vehicle, as they thought it was unsafe to park it outside in San Francisco, but also unsafe to park it indoors due to the risk of hydrogen fuel leakage.
How did Hyundai react to these issues?
Customers were offered to trade in their vehicle for a newer model, however, this typically resulted in the buyer finding out that trade-in options were not available for their particular vehicles. Other customers tried to opt for buybacks but were offered significantly lower prices.
[1] https://www.hyundai.com/worldwide/en/eco/nexo/because-of-you
[2] NEXO Technology | Eco – Hyundai Worldwide
Another owner had damage on their radiator and needed repairs, however, given that the Nexo is not a typical gasoline vehicle, it had to undergo repairs at Hyundai’s specialized facility. This process took three months, and cost $15,000 through insurance.
Other experiences
Other features of the vehicle also proved to be unreliable, with customers experiencing issues with the vehicle’s cruise control, Bluelink functions, USB connectors, and acceleration. Customers also had to deal with strange noises coming from the vehicle during use, with assistance from dealerships proving to be unhelpful. News of recalls due to fire safety concerns certainly didn’t help with customer anxiety. A buyer had to incur costs in finding a safe place to park the vehicle, as they thought it was unsafe to park it outside in San Francisco, but also unsafe to park it indoors due to the risk of hydrogen fuel leakage.
How did Hyundai react to these issues?
Customers were offered to trade in their vehicle for a newer model, however, this typically resulted in the buyer finding out that trade-in options were not available for their particular vehicles. Other customers tried to opt for buybacks but were offered significantly lower prices.
