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Carsales Staff13 May 2021
NEWS

Hyundai NEXO breaks long-distance record – in Oz

Aussie team pushes new fuel-cell electric vehicle to its limits, exceeding the official range by 221km

Hyundai Australia has broken the world record for the longest distance travelled by a hydrogen-powered vehicle on a single tank, achieving the accolade in a cross-country journey from Melbourne to past Broken Hill.

Driving the new 2021 Hyundai NEXO, the Australian Hyundai team set an official 887.5km world record, breaking the previous mark by 109.5km and exceeding the hydrogen-powered SUV’s official range by 221km.

At the helm of the NEXO was Hyundai rally driver Brendan Reeves.

To keep hydrogen use in check, Reeves averaged 66.9km/h over the 13-hour distance, went without climate control and was extremely conservative with his driving style and inputs.

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“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.

“I was constantly checking the NEXO’s efficiency readout to maximise the distance I was getting per kilogram of hydrogen.

“I found that by using techniques from rally driving, such as looking as far down the road as possible, as well as tips I have learned from my dad for driving a truck efficiently over long distances, it’s actually possible to go way beyond NEXO’s official range.”

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Hyundai says the NEXO’s low fuel warning first lit up at 686km, with over 200km of range left from that point. The fuel light started flashing after 796km, with 90km of real range remaining.

“During the trip the NEXO consumed a total of 6.27kg of hydrogen, at a rate of 0.706kg/100km,” the company said in a statement.

“It purified 449,100 litres of air on the journey – enough for 33 adults to breathe in a day – its plastic exhaust pipe emitting only water in vapour and droplet form throughout the trip.

“It emitted zero CO2, where a standard internal combustion engine vehicle would have emitted about 126kg of CO2 over the same distance.”

The record surpasses the previous hydrogen mark of 778km set by French aeronaut Bertrand Piccard, also at the wheel of a NEXO, on his journey across France from Sarreguemines to Le Bourget.

The new record comes just weeks after Hyundai deployed the first 20 NEXO FCEVs into Australia under a contract with the ACT government.

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