Hyundai Nexo review

Let's say you want to save the planet, but you’re put off electric cars by their long charge times, what do you do? One answer is to get a car powered by hydrogen, just like the Hyundai Nexo. Although it is an electric car, it effectively has its own on-board power station, called a fuel cell, to generate electricity, rather than using a massive battery pack.

By using hydrogen to feed the fuel cell, you can fill the tank in about five minutes using equipment that’s only slightly fiddlier than a regular petrol pump. Not only will you get well over 300 real-world miles out of that refill, the only emissions when you’re driving are purified air and water.

Instead of being merely a hydrogen-powered variant of an existing model, the Nexo has been engineered around a dedicated platform, which has allowed the engineers to package the fuel cell and accompanying parts more efficiently. The results, on paper at least, speak for themselves: the Nexo is right-hand drive, has boot space comparable to that of petrol and diesel family SUVs and provides decent space for rear passengers.

Now, although this fuel cell technology is nothing new, Hyundai claims this is the first mass-produced, and therefore widely available, hydrogen-powered car to go on sale in the UK. At this point, you can argue that the Toyota Mirai, launched three years ago, was the first hydrogen fuel cell car available to purchase rather than to lease or loan, but supplies have been seriously limited. 

Even though Hyundai is looking to sell thousands of Nexos, they aren’t cheap. There’s only one model and it sits between the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model S in terms of price. But arguably its biggest rival is the Jaguar I-Pace – after all, both are trend SUVs, as well as costing a similar amount.

So to find out if the Nexo is any good, keep reading over the next few pages for our in depth review. And while you’re here, have a look at our New Car Buying service for massive savings on all manner of new cars and SUVs.

There might be all sorts of clever chemistry going on underneath the Nexo’s skin, but the driving experience is reassuringly normal. Indeed, those that are familiar with modern electric cars will feel right at home.

Flex your right foot and the Nexo pulls way in near silence, with the strong shove in the back that electric car users will know so well. That can get a little chirrup out of the front tyres, but it’s nowhere near as ragged as the Hyundai Kona Electric.

At higher speeds, wind noise and a bit of road roar are noticeable although these are highlighted by the near-silence of the electric motor and fuel cell. More irritating is the thudding noise the suspension makes dealing with sudden bumps and holes.

However, it’s hard to think of a conventionally powered family SUV that’s as relaxing to drive in an inner-city environment. That’s partially down to the Nexo’s switchable regenerative braking, which allows you to control how quickly the Nexo slows when you lift off the accelerator. In its most aggressive setting you can drive without touching the brake for the majority of the time.

And with maximum torque available from a standstill, the Nexo feels very strong off the line – although Tesla and I-Pace buyers might be put off by the 0-62mph time of 9.2sec as that acceleration tails off above 30mph or so. But although the Nexo is unlikely to cause neckache, the acceleration is more than strong enough for everyday use.

The Nexo is a heavy car, and it feels it when cornering. Although grippy enough through corners, it feels recalcitrant and unwilling to change direction and then leans noticeably when it finally does so. The steering is also a little difficult to get used to, with inconsistent weighting at faster speeds and very little sense of connection with the front tyres. Worst of all is its strong self-centring that makes the wheel spring back to the straight ahead if you loosen your grip even slightly.

In terms of ride, the Nexo is more impressive. On the motorway it gently wafts over undulations and does a pretty good job of smoothing over expansion joints. However, larger crests highlight the car’s mass once more as the Nexo a little uncontrolled compared to an I-Pace or Tesla Model X. At slower speeds over the kind of crumbling surface that’s so common in the UK, the Nexo does fidget a little while big bumps can thump through its body. Overall though, it is a comfortable companion.

The Nexo's driver assistance systems should prove popular with safety-conscious families. With lane-keeping assistance and adaptive cruise control, the Nexo can drive semi-autonomously, although you still need to steer gently to make smooth progress; unlike Nissan’s ProPilot system, if the lane-keeping assistance is left to its own devices (with your hands still on the steering wheel, of course), it tends to pinball between the white lines rather than keeping you bang in the middle of your lane.

Hyundai isn't exactly known for its interior design, but the Nexo is no regular Hyundai. Step inside and you’re met with a dashboard that looks more reminiscent of high-end Lexus than a Tucson or Santa Fe. You get perforated leather seats with electric adjustment plus heating and cooling functions, a metallic 'floating' centre console, a 12.3in touchscreen for infotainment and a 7.0in display between the instrument dials, all helping to give some real pizzazz.

But while the interior looks the part, it doesn’t necessarily feel it. Like BMW with its i3, Hyundai has used a number of sustainable materials, such as sugar cane and bamboo, to build the Nexo's dashboard. But unlike in the i3, you wouldn’t necessarily know it. Everything feels a little too plasticky, with hard materials used in a few too many places that you’ll come into contact with regularly. This is an SUV that costs more than the plush Audi Q7 after all.

The infotainment system is also a bit of a mixed bag. We like the fact that it’s responsive and displayed on a vast screen, but the graphics aren’t quite as crisp as those of the Jaguar I-Pace or Tesla and the software isn’t all that intuitive to use with slightly confusing menus. At least you get the option of using the system with a rotary dial controller with physical shortcut buttons, although again this isn’t as intuitive as BMW’s iDrive.

Happily, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity are standard and are displayed on the entire 12.3in screen. Wireless phone charging is standard and you get three USB ports up front, although we’d have liked to have seen one or two in the rear. At least those in the back have a 12v socket they can plug an adapter in.

And while we actually quite like the buttonfest that is the centre console (physical touch points are far easier to use while you're driving than a screen), we fear buyers will be less impressed. After all, more or less every manufacturer is moving toward touchscreen-dominated interiors to create that minimalist feel.

Visibility is for the most part very good thanks to an array of cameras that come as standard. Not only do you get rear and bird’s eye view cameras as standard, but a couple that cover your blindspots, too. Every time you indicate left or right, these cameras show a live image in the 7.0in driver’s display. We wouldn’t want to rely on this entirely, but it does give additional peace of mind. Our only complaint is that the rear screen pillars are quite thick.

And because the driver’s seat and steering wheel have a good range of adjustment, both the vertically gifted and challenged should be able to get comfortable.

In terms of space, the Nexo continues to impress. It's actually longer and fractionally wider than the Hyundai Tucson, and this equates to loads of room front and rear. Even with a standard sunroof, there’s ample head room and the driver’s seat goes a long way back. Width is good too; you won’t be clashing elbows with your front seat passenger.

We persuaded one of our taller testers to put their 6’ 2” frame comfy behind the wheel, and then asked them to sit in the back. Although leg room was decent, with no knees knocking against the front seat back, our lanky colleague did find their head rather close to the roof. A low hump in the floor should make getting three on the rear bench easier, but the Nexo isn’t the widest of SUVs, so it’s still a bit of a squeeze.

The boot is slightly less impressive; at 471 litres, it's smaller than that of the Tiguan and Peugeot 3008. However, when you consider that Hyundai’s engineers have had to fit a trio of carbonfibre hydrogen tanks beneath the boot floor, 471 litres suddenly looks pretty acceptable – it’s still more than you get most family hatchbacks. Factor in a low loading lip, folding rear seats (albeit only a 60/40 split) with a flat extended boot floor and the Nexo is actually a reasonable load lugger.

There’s only one model of Nexo and it comes packed to the rafters with equipment including dual-zone climate control, ful LED lighting, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry and start plus a hands-free electric tailgate as standard.

The bad news is that the Nexo isn’t cheap, costing around the same amount as the far speedier Jaguar I-Pace and nearly twice as much as Hyundai’s own Kona Electric. It’s also worth bearing in mind that hydrogen itself is quite expensive, so you won’t save money on running costs like you would an electric car. It pays to save the earth, at least, that’s how it seems. At least you still pay minimal amounts of company car tax due to the Nexo emitting no CO2 at all.

As for safety, the Nexo scored a full five stars in its Euro NCAP safety evaluation, although delving into the scores deeper, it could protect its driver a little better compared to similarly pricey SUVs. At least you get automatic emergency braking, blind spot detection, lane-keeping assistance and a driver attention alert as standard.