Hydrogen fuel energy vehicles are no strangers to everyone, but few people have driven them. While many car buyers struggled with the choice between fuel vehicles and pure electric vehicles, TheCars had the opportunity to experience Hyundai NeXO (hereinafter referred to as NEXO), a hydrogen fuel cell powered SUV that can be sold almost at any time.
On the day of the test drive, it was snowing in Beijing, just in time to try NEXO's winter start and endurance performance... However, let TC Jun first introduce a round from design to configuration, and then talk about the advantages and disadvantages in a nagging way. Don't sell Guanzi, TC Jun first writes the results of the experience in the front! For consumers who feel that oil cars are not environmentally friendly but trams are not troublesome, the NEXO powered by hydrogen fuel cells and similar "hydrogen" powered models will be the best choice for your fuel-efficient and trouble-free future.
At the design level of the modern NEXO, whether it is the consumer of the EV generation or the consumer of the fuel age, you can find your favorite interior and exterior design elements. Although the NEXO is a model that has been finalized and released in 2018, the overall design of the front can even look ahead compared with the newly listed models in 2022, and the LED lighting design that runs through the front is now rare, and the design of the honeycomb grille is in line with the current "big mouth" trend, and even the split headlight design is 2 years ahead of the current many best-selling cars.
As for the NEXO's sleek body lines and slightly moderate taillight design, it exudes a taste of retaining its own style. At least when you are accustomed to seeing a variety of TC jun that runs through the style taillights, there is no aesthetic fatigue when you see the triangular taillight lighting effect with a clear sense of layering. The blue LOGO that can best highlight its new energy identity in the whole car is so small! "Quietly" pasted between the front wheel eyebrow and the car door, which is very much in line with the traditional Chinese attitude of moderation and low-key. As for the spoiler design of the rear of the car, the significance of practicality definitely exceeds the need for decoration.
Inside the NEXO car... It is also the fusion of the technology of the times and traditional habits. The technology configuration led by the dual LCD linkage screen, the air conditioning and audio control area with rich physical button layout can find highlights, and the characteristics of the times and practical needs are truly perfectly matched. The overall wrapping material of the interior looks less "advanced", but don't forget that the NEXO is a new energy vehicle that pays attention to low-key. The interior of this NEXO adopts environmentally friendly interior materials, such as bio-coatings made from vegetable oils, plant-based artificial leather and other decorative materials, which are both high-grade and environmentally friendly. Each car uses about 30kg of biomaterials for this part, which is equivalent to reducing 12kg of CO2 emissions per car, not only hooked up with low-key luxury, but also properly showing off a handful of environmental protection strength, saying that no matter how the warm wind blows in the whole-day experience, the interior does not have a little plastic smell and glue smell, but on this one highlight, it may have "crushed" countless new fuel and pure electric SUVs.
What else to focus on, the features? Since NEXO is equipped with a 12.3-inch central control screen and a 10.25-inch instrument screen, the popular configuration corresponding to these two screens should be available. Yes, whether it is the front anti-collision assistance system, lane departure warning, intelligent cruise control system (covering Stop and Go) or highway driver assistance system are readily available; in addition, the latest auxiliary functions such as safe lane keeping assistance system, side rear collision assistance system, rear cross collision assistance system, high beam auxiliary system and so on are also many. Especially when turning on the turn signals to prepare for the line when driving, the steering side blind zone visualization system that is automatically opened is provided, which is not to say that in 2018, even if it is currently a top-end SUV, it will only provide functions.
NeXO does not mean to discount in the comfort configuration, after all, it is the first model of hydrogen fuel power battery, from 8 speakers to front seat ventilation / full car seat heating, from mobile phone wireless charging to oversized vision sunroof... Still all matched according to the positioning of high-end SUVs, this real attitude is very compatible with its pure import identity.
In terms of power technology, NEXO is not short of highlights. The first is that NEXO chooses hydrogen fuel as the only refueling energy source, stored in hydrogen tanks as fuel, and produces only two things – electricity and pure water. The electricity is used to drive the vehicle, providing the SUV with a maximum power of 120kW and a maximum torque of 395Nm, which feels like a proper driving experience of a pure electric front-drive SUV. Braking can also be selected when braking, and the recovered power is stored in a 6.5Ah high-voltage battery for the vehicle's air conditioning, heating and internal lighting functions. As for the safety of hydrogen tanks, you can refer to this information - carbon fiber manufacturing, which is 10 times stronger than steel; the use of a device to cushion the impact force and a special coating technology that withstands the flame for a long time; and the world's first hydrogen fuel cell model to receive euro NCAP's highest five-star safety rating.
As for the power data, NEXO is filled in accordance with the relevant Chinese standards, and only 3.99KG of liquid hydrogen is needed to achieve an endurance of 596km, which is also considered to be a medium and upper endurance in the pure tram at this stage. Don't forget the most critical, how much is the battery of a pure tram? How heavy is the hydrogen tank? The cruising range brought by hydrogen conversion electricity will not be significantly reduced due to low temperatures, which belongs to the absolute advantage of all hydrogen fuel models, and steadily hangs all battery-powered models at this stage and in the future.
Seeing this, do you think that the modern NEXO has been fully understood? Don't close the browser, the interesting part is just the beginning of it! The above are intuitive design and configuration, as well as simple data and information, and the nagging parts for potential consumers and friends who have never seen a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle are below...
NeXO is the most practical as the family car of the future, and it is also the key to solving the biggest pain point of oil car owners and tram owners, that is, it is really too convenient. The habit of refueling does not need to be changed at all, the order is still to drive into the hydrogen refueling station, turn off the ignition (drainage), open the filling port, plug in the hydrogen refueling gun, open the valve to fill, less than three minutes to fill, close the valve, unplug the hydrogenation gun, cover the lid to start, leave... How about asking you if it's convenient or inconvenient? This convenience and speed is definitely the key to the jokes of fuel car owners pure tram owners, right? If the owner of a pure tram changes to NEXO, how convenient, how fast... No more having to find an electric stake and go through the torture of baking in the car for at least an hour in the summer and freezing in the car for at least an hour in the winter.
Speed is one key to saving trouble, and another key is how much does it cost to fill a tank of oil? According to the current oil price, it will take more than 300 yuan to run out of this nearly 600km. But do you know how much NEXO hydrogenation costs? 1kg hydrogen fuel is only 30 yuan, NEXO full 3.99kg as long as 120 yuan can run nearly 600km... Seeing this cost-effective, is it that the owner of the fuel car can't laugh out? And this 600km endurance is basically not affected by the temperature, summer want to open the cold air to open the cold wind, winter want to open the warm air to open the warm air, but also open the seat ventilation and heating, and then play their favorite songs... Is this the dream of all pure tram owners now?
Also, neXO even in minus 30 degrees Celsius climate conditions, the vehicle start time is only 30 seconds, and then it can drive away... Does this performance make the owners of fuel vehicles who get five minutes of hot cars in winter ashamed, and make the owners of pure trams that may not be able to start directly without electricity in winter collapse? What do you think? The problem of saving money tangled by fuel car owners, as well as the worry-free problem of pure tram owners, two problems are perfectly solved by a product that will be listed in the future! So everyone is still arguing with each other, the fuel saving of electricity is not worry-free, the worry-free use of oil is not to save money, and it is the most convenient to replace the car with hydrogen fuel cell.
As for the space issues that all consumers will care about when buying a car, let's talk about it thoroughly. NEXO's positioning is a compact SUV but the size can not be compact, the wheelbase of 2790mm ensures that both the front row and the rear row can stretch the legs; the length, width and height are 4680mm, 1860mm, 1640mm vehicle size, to ensure that there is no pressure in and out of all standard parking spaces in China; the trunk also has 461L of storage space under the premise that the rear row is not down, and there is a hidden partition storage design in the lower part of the partition... Is this space okay?
There is also the weight advantage of NEXO, 1850kg of the car weight is definitely lighter than carrying a large battery often more than 2 tons of pure electric SUV light, go out to play to encounter bad roads or small bridges, follow the ruts of ordinary SUVs can pass, do not have to worry about crushing the path or trapped in the soft road; and for the pure tram battery, the most feared bottom of the car encounters bumps, NEXO also has a comprehensive bottom armor protection, absolutely impressed a lot of consumers who love to travel by car but dare not easily change the pure electric SUV! If you really change the NEXO to drive, there is no oil pipeline at the bottom of the car, there is no squeamish battery, and there is no fear of bad roads and wading free driving, how many people have moved their hearts?
After all, to compete with SUVs around the world, NEXO has many small highlights. For example, many models are currently popularizing hidden door handles, NEXO also has, but gave up the fragile single-axle design and chose a more reliable tie rod structure. Looking at the new power models where the door handle freezes after a snow or the battery is cold enough to run out of power and cannot pop out, the design features of the NEXO not only ensure that there is electricity at all times, the motor also retracts normally, but also effectively protects the lock button. The small highlight of the exterior is also the hidden rear wiper, which belongs to a very intimate design, which will not affect the view of the tail window when idle, but also avoid the aging and replacement caused by the wind and rain and the sun, which is as small as dozens of yuan The mind has not been seen in the domestic automobile market for many years.
And NEXO car also has a lot of places worthy of praise, such as the design of the gear button, for the elderly and female drivers is very affinity, do not have to worry about the traditional gear lever push and pull is not in place and misaligned, do not have to worry about the knob design can not find the corresponding gear situation, several gears a key a gear, do not have to worry about pressing the wrong button. There are also traditional air conditioning control buttons are the same, experienced pure tram touch screen crash and can not operate the stereo, air conditioning and even navigation of the car owner, this must be very deeply felt. After all, the functional configuration is to facilitate the owner, once it becomes an obstacle, the consumer's impression of the product must be greatly reduced. In addition, in terms of comfort, there is also such a careful thinking as the rear backrest that can adjust the angle, and there are many in the NEXO car, which will definitely make the owners satisfied and surprised after the official listing.
NEXO also has its own unique skills, namely purified water, the aforementioned emissions, and air purification, a side benefit of the hydrogen energy conversion process. These two highlights are definitely enough for the future owners of NEXO to blow for a while, take air purification, because absolutely clean oxygen to participate in the conversion of power, so NEXO is equipped with triple air filtration equipment, which can filter 99.9% of the particle pollution in the air, a NEXO running for an hour of purification is enough for 42.6 adult breathing consumption, and ten thousand NEXO on the road, it is equivalent to purifying the particles emitted by twenty thousand fuel vehicles, yes, this purification is at the same time for the inside and outside of the car... Even if it is a pure electric SUV, it can only do without producing particle pollution and cannot run on the road while purifying the air for the city, right? Can this work be enough?
Of course, because NEXO uses purified oxygen and pure hydrogen, nexo's only discharge, water, is also pure water. The experience site is directly tested with the TDS test of water quality, first press the drainage button, the bottom of the car will actively discharge the stored water, detect the water quality TDS value of NEXO discharge is 7, and the comparison of drinking pure water value is 0, which belongs to the drinking level, right? When the media arrived home and used the PH test strip to test the acidity and alkalinity of the water, it was found that the water discharged by NEXO and the pure water for drinking were the same color between 6 and 7, which was absolutely neutral and safe, so NEXO's ability to go to the Alxa Hero Club was absolutely appropriate.
After talking about so many highlights and advantages of NEXO, are consumers in a hurry no longer care about the problem of saving electricity on fuel trucks or saving fuel on trams? Just want to know how much the modern hydrogen fuel cell SUV, the NEXO, is priced and when it will be available?
To be honest, TC Jun does not know yet, but TheCars will definitely keep an eye on the latest news and release it at the first time, so that everyone can save the money for refueling as soon as possible and save the time for charging... Early on hyundai NEXO.
Text / Hao Jun
Duty Edit Southwest