SPY PICS: Hyundai FCEV breaks cover

The cat is out of the bag. Hyundai's all-new, second-generation fuel-cell vehicle, expected to be called the FCEV, has been spotted by our spy photographers undergoing testing in Germany.

It will be officially revealed at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in early January, when the company is expected to outline its strategy for the future of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Showing off a sleek new design that makes the previous FCEV – based on a Hyundai ix35 – look ancient in comparison.

And if you think a Korean fuel-cell vehicle is irrelevant Down Under, where trhere's next to no hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, at least 20 of the new vehicles will touch down in Australia in 2018.

Although Toyota has also been testing the Mirai, with its mobile hydrogen refueller, this SUV is expected to be the first hydrogen fuel-cell car available to customers in Australia, where Hyundai has tested its new FCEV.

The first 20 vehicles have been ordered by the Australian Capital Territory government and Hyundai expects other government and private fleet buyers to follow suit.

The 20 vehicles were the first orders globally, and are linked with the Hornsdale Windfarm Project in the ACT.

The futuristic-looking new-generation Hyundai FCEV, which looks a lot like the "near-production" concept version officially revealed in Seoul in August, could have a range of up to 800km and will develop significantly more power than its 100kW predecessor.

Based on a new platform and given unique styling inside and out, the new FCEV SUV shows that Hyundai is serious about hydrogen-powered vehicles.

It's true that the car is an EV in the sense that electric motors power the wheels, but the energy that feeds the motors comes not from a power point (and therefore mostly from a coal-fired Australian power station) but from the on-board processing of hydrogen, which is faster to refuel than waiting for a battery to charge and emits only water.

The main issue for hydrogen-powered vehicles is infrastructure. Hyundai owns the country's only filling station at its Sydney headquarters while Toyota has a mobile system, but public filling stations are yet to materialise.

There are almost 40 hydrogen filling stations in US -- most of them in California, where Honda, Toyota and other brands sell hydrogen cars. Some European countries like Germany also have a fledgling network of hydrogen filling stations.