2026 Hyundai Nexo Redesign, Specs, Interior
2026 Hyundai Nexo Redesign, Specs, Interior – If this is the future, you may be able to drink your car’s exhaust – eventually, maybe. Unfortunately for Canadian fuel cell fans and green car enthusiasts, that eventuality has seemed just a few years away for the better part of 30 years. 2026 Hyundai Nexo Redesign
The 2026 Hyundai Nexo Fuel Cell is a quiet, futuristic and technology-laden halo vehicle for the Korean brand, no doubt. But it’s also more hydrogen and fuel cell PR project than true emissions-reducing family transportation, as its true mission in life is to provide another four-wheeled ‘egg’ (along with the Toyota Mirai and Honda Clarity Fuel Cell) to encourage the establishment and growth of a hydrogen fuelling network it needs to truly become an option for more than a handful of consumers and fleet buyers in Canada.
2026 Hyundai Nexo Redesign and Update Plan
Exterior and Interior
Hit the button for Drive, mash the throttle and you’ll have the equivalent of 161 hp and 291 lb-ft of torque, initial jump is healthy and worthy of a mainstream compact crossover, with a 0-100 km/h dash of roughly 9.2 seconds. But this will be amongst the quietest drives up to highway speeds of any vehicle on the market, with little aerodynamic touches in the C-pillar meant to smooth aerodynamics. It’s even notably quieter than the Kona Electric we drove earlier that day. 2026 Hyundai Nexo Redesign
As you’re driving along, a touch of either turn signal in the Nexo brings up a view down your corresponding right or left hand side in the digital screen in front of you. And it offers a self-parking system that can not only move the car forward and backward out of a tight parking spot, as on various modern luxury cars, but can also allow you to step out of the Nexo and twirl itself into a perpendicular or parallel spot all by itself, without you in the driver’s seat.
2026 Hyundai Nexo Specs
As a mono-spec offering, the Nexo is lacking nothing. The 12.3-inch screen is easy to read and has all sorts of fun diagnostic information, but if you just use it as a standard navigation screen, it’s all very functional.
Everything uses Hyundai’s UVO infotainment system, which does well with voice commands, and is overall intuitive. The stereo sounds better than it probably is, thanks to the Nexo’s silent operation, and the aforementioned driving assists are standard. Over very rough pavement or speed bumps, the Nexo’s considerable 1,875 kg curb weight can occasionally catch the suspension out with a rough transition. However, in all other cases it’s as comfortable as any other mainstream crossover.
Engine and Performance
Compared to hybrids and other fuel-cell vehicles, the Nexo has adequate acceleration. Pressing the accelerator for instant electric torque provides great point-and-squirt performance in urban setting, and if getting up to highway speeds is only slightly brisker than a plug-in Prius, it is at least very quiet.A full week of using the Nexo as the family commuter required no more thought than operating a Honda CR-V or a Toyota RAV-4. However, points were deducted for one minor infraction, and one very large fly in the ointment.
First, the Nexo’s centre console appears to have been designed for mixing the latest single from one of Korea’s popular K-pop bands. It is absolutely festooned with buttons and knobs, to the point that it could also double as a toddler activity centre. A bit of familiarity that came with use made life easier, but the monochromatic grey and smallish button script makes the interface oddly complicated to use.
However, the real issue with the Nexo, and vehicles like it, is that public hydrogen refuelling is only just beginning to become available. On the plus side, there are several stations opening in BC, including one in my hometown of North Vancouver. Refuelling is theoretically a simple process, and would be ideal if you needed to park your car somewhere where plug-in capability was out of the question. 2026 Hyundai Nexo Redesign
2026 Hyundai Nexo Fuel Economy
Driver confidence further comes through in the way the Nexo consumes hydrogen. The simple chemical reaction, abetted by the layers of the fuel cell itself, sees two hydrogen atoms combine with a single atom of oxygen, producing water and electricity. No other emissions result, and the Nexo’s filters are so effective at scrubbing out impurities that the air in its wake is actually cleaner.
That’s a nice talking point, but the real boon to consumers is that hydrogen range is less affected by cold than battery life, even when you’re parked outside at -30°C. The Nexo’s displayed range was so consistently accurate, than it made for a much more relaxed driving experience.
2026 Hyundai Nexo Safety Features
Better than the Hindenburg? Compressed hydrogen is the sort of thing to make the average consumer nervous, but the Nexo’s trio of Kevlar-reinforced carbon-fibre tanks are tougher than your average fuel tank. The rest of the vehicle does an outstanding job of protecting occupants in a crash, earning a five-star rating in stringent European NCAP testing.
Further, the car comes with Hyundai’s full suite of driving assists, including lane-keeping, collision avoidance/mitigation via automated braking, and blind-spot monitoring. The lane-keeping assist works well, but does shift around in the lane slightly. 2026 Hyundai Nexo Redesign
2026 Hyundai Nexo Price and Release Date
Pricing hasn’t been announced in Canada, but it will likely be well into luxury SUV territory, as it’s designed to compete with the rare Toyota Mirai fuel cell, which sells for US$57,000 in the US, its Canadian price also not listed on Toyota Canada’s Canadian consumer site.
Both the Kona EV and the Nexo will be low volume green vehicles, but the Kona Electric is closer to actual production car volumes, with Hyundai expecting to sell up to 5,000 this year in Canada. In contrast, the Nexo’s predecessor, the Tuscon Fuel Cell, leased a maximum of 12 vehicles at a time over the years, due to the lack of hydrogen fuelling available to the public.
That’s still an issue, and Hyundai execs admit that bringing the Nexo to market is an attempt to encourage fuel, government and other parties to invest more in hydrogen fuelling stations. Thus even within this single company, there are two parallel buses heading towards a zero emissions utopia, with the BEV one pulling ahead, but Hyundai executives pushing the slower one hard to catch up. 2026 Hyundai Nexo Redesign
