Two pioneers of the hydrogen fuel domain drove the Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell variant for a total of 2383 kilometres in a span of just 24 hours.
How would you feel if you drove a car for a really long distance and all it would emit from the exhaust is water vapour? Sounds unrealistic? It might sound like it but it is a reality. Hyundai is the first manufacturer which is mass producing a fuel cell vehicle and selling it commercially. However, since the technology is very expensive at this stage and not too widespread, the numbers are limited. With time though, the number of such vehicles would increase. Two citizens of Norway recently accomplished something which shows the potential of fuel cell vehicles.
The duo drove the Hyundai ix35 for 2383 kms in 24 hours continuously. The distance was covered by round trips between Vatenfall’s hydrogen station in Hamburg and Shell hydrogen station in Berlin, a distance of about 300 kms one-way. Since refuelling the car takes less than three minutes and each tankful has a healthy range of around 600 kms, the drive time can be maximised. The run not only included normal highway cruising, it also included driving through the city and a few high-speed bursts out on the open roads.
The sole purpose of the drive was to highlight the importance of fuel cell technology and that it is the technology for the future and we believe Mr. Arnt-Goran Hartvig and Mr. Marius Bornstein, the two men who did the drive very well succeeded in it. The Hyundai ix35 is the most affordable fuel cell vehicle on European roads currently which Hyundai is proud off and is sold in 11 European countries currently. It is powered by a 136 PS electric motor giving it the ability to touch 0-100 km/hr in about 12.5 seconds and speed topping out at 160 km/hr.
