Hyundai revealed its latest hydrogen-powered concept called Initium. The term Initium is simply referred to as the ‘begining’ or first in Latin. This new SUV marks Hyundai’s next fuel cell passenger vehicle model, and it will be arriving for production in the mid-year of 2025.
According to Hyundai, the Initium uses large hydrogen fuel tanks, but their sizes weren’t disclosed yet. Also, the driving range is being targeted at over 400 miles with a maximum motor output of 150 KW. It will have low rolling resistance tires that will help in maximizing the vehicle range.
The SUV shows up Hyundai’s latest design language, “Art of Steel,” hinting at what’s coming from the brand, which will be a successor to the Nexo. It consists of a boxy design, and the Initium sits on 21-inch aerodynamic wheels, and for urban and outdoor adventures, it comes with a roof rack. Another unique thing is the square LED lights, and skid plates keep it rigors of off-roading.
Compared to the Nexo, which is the current Hyundai FCEV, the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km has been reduced to 8.0 seconds. The Nexo attained 60 mph in just 8.4 seconds. The highway speed from 80 to 120 kph used 6.0 seconds, giving it an outstanding acceleration performance compared to FCEVs competitors, that’s according to Hyundai Vice President Jim Hwan Jung, who is in charge of vehicle development technology, at a presentation in Seoul.
Following Hyundai’s first independence design of the fuel cell stack in 2013, the Initium will use the third generation of it. The durability of the new stack will be improved to 40 percent compared to the one found on Nexo. Initium is able to provide a vehicle to load (V2L) electricity, and with its full H2 tanks, it will be able to produce around 100.0 kWh of offboard power.