Quite for a while the Hyundai ix35 remained in the stir of news for being the future car, as also tagged as the world’s first production-specific hydrogen-fuelled car running successfully on road.
With the passing times, it managed to register one more record in its name, and that’s for covering a distance of 700 km (435 miles) on a single tank of hydrogen.
In actual, Hyundai had officially claimed the ix35 of doing only 594 km (369 miles) in its official figures. The numbers that the Korean carmaker had achieved in this record had surpassed the official’s expectations.
Ultimately, the vehicle was driven at an average speed of 76 km/h (47 mph), and even extreme – the trip computer still showed almost 10 km (6 miles) of range left (after the entire journey).
The record making journey was spanned over Oslo, Norway to Malmö, Sweden via Gothenburg, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark.
Commenting about the drive, Marius Bornstein said: “We had planned to finish in Copenhagen, but realised there was enough hydrogen left in the tank for a longer drive. When we arrived at the filling station in Malmö we still had a few kilometres of range remaining. To achieve this distance on just one tank of hydrogen shows the potential of this technology and the ability of the Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell. I believe this is a world record.”
Though, for masses, the infrastructure for hydrogen-fuel vehicle may be very sparse and scare, but the ongoing efforts of carmakers seems to get it flown in the mainstream soon. Another rival from Toyota is also blinking to break the cover sometime 2015 which apparently would be claiming a range of somewhat 482 km (300 miles). Adding to its noose, during April 2012, the two drivers travelled from Oslo to Monaco in an ix35 Fuel Cell, a distance of 2260 kilometres, demonstrating the usability of fuel cell cars and the growing refuelling infrastructure.
Frank Meijer, Head of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle at Hyundai Motor Europe, commented: “The distance travelled by the ix35 Fuel Cell demonstrates the viability and real-world benefits of hydrogen fuel cell technology – it’s an electric vehicle with long-distance range. Hyundai Motor is the first automaker to mass-produce fuel cell vehicles, and we continue to promote the growth of Europe’s hydrogen refuelling network.”
