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Hyundai ix35 FCEV

Hyundai ix35 FCEV Source: NewCarSpy.com

Hyundai ix35 FCEV in Norway

Last week, Hyundai offered up the ix35 fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) (known as the Tucson in the United States, and currently offered with an internal combustion engine (ICE) only), to mayors of the capital cities of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Currently the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is one of the best selling vehicles available in Iceland. With 99.9% of their electricity provided from renewable resources, Iceland can truly claim to offer near zero-emissions from electric vehicles. Hyundai hopes to convert some of those battery-powered electric vehicle drivers to fuel cell electric vehicle drivers with the promise of more driving range.

Fuel cell vehicles are powered by an electric motor, just like the LEAF. The source of the power, though, is not a battery. It is a hydrogen-powered fuel cell. We are still of the opinion that hydrogen fuel stations are too few and far between for fuel cell vehicles to be practical for most, especially in the United States. We have discussed fuel cell powered vehicles before (the Honda FCX Clarity), but we found an interesting twist to the Hyundai story. Where the Hyundai tale gets interesting is this: according to caradvice.com.au, Hyundai is not only developing a fuel cell electric vehicle, but they are also studying super conductor technology. Nothing is said other than that mention, but it makes us wonder if they are actually referring to ultra capacitor technology, similar to what EEstor has been working on for ZENN for many years. ZENN has just had a management shakeup due to the unfulfilled promise (thus far) of the technology. We can’t help but think though, that a company with the resources of Hyundai, may have a better shot at actually developing the technology than a small company in Texas. We’ve been all over the Hyundai sites and haven’t found any information to corroborate the story, but we did think that it was worth mentioning. Below is a clip of the ix35 FCEV being driven across Denmark.

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