2019 Hyundai Kona Electric and Nexo Review: Two Great EVs, One Hard Choice

As if on cue, almost everybody around our white linen dinner table stops for a simultaneous phone-check; the faces of the journalists and our Hyundai hosts dip into puddles of phone-screen illumination. I’m old enough to find this a strange new custom but … hmm, I see that my pal, Larry, is asking what I’m driving today.

I type back “Hyundai Nexo fuel cell vehicle and the Kona Electric.” A few months ago he banged-up his Mustang and took over the lease of a Mirai as his daily driver because he thought it was a good deal.

“You have no idea how much anxiety the Mirai has given me” he quickly types back. “I believe in Elon Musk now.”

Larry’s really angry. He sends me a screen-cap of a cafcp.org (California Fuel Cell Partnership) map of the hydrogen stations he’s staring at right now. His 24-mile daily drive from West Covina to Rancho Cucamonga (that’s laterally—and literally—right across the L.A. basin) traverses a hydrogen desert with just two oases of H2 that are even close if he doesn’t backtrack.

I cannot imagine this routine. It has me reprocessing everything about what happened today.

Within six hours, I’ve driven two CUVs from the same manufacturer that in my opinion are the best hydrogen fuel cell and affordable battery electric car you can buy. The Nexo’s 354-380-mile range overwhelms the Toyota Mirai’s official 312-miles and is comparable to the Honda Clarity’s 366-miles. The Kona Electric’s 258 miles of range easily short-circuits the Bolt’s 238-mile claim to fame. And even if we set these terrific numbers aside—which of course, you absolutely can’t—they really do drive better than any of their rivals.

So here we have the best of their respective breeds. And I know what you’re probably thinking: ‘Who cares? I wouldn’t buy either one anyway.’

On October 7, that was a sort-of passable answer. On October 8, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued humanity an unequivocal ultimatum: We have about a dozen years to limit the rise in temperature to 1.5 C to avoid the most terrifying consequences of global warming. And even at 1.5 (which we’re racing toward) we’ll still struggle with a lot of pretty bad stuff. To stop it at 1.5, “global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050.” Debra Roberts, a Co-Chair, said “The next few years are probably the most important in our history.” That includes, let’s see, years like 1939 through 1945, for instance.

Like the Greatest Generation, we’re at war again with a monster. Our 2018 version of 1940’s B17 production lines need to spit out an arsenal of electric cars, and we need to start buying them like they’re war bonds. As of October 8, the Hyundai Nexo and Kona Electric have shifted from dismissible novelty items to crucial solutions. Let me start with the Nexo.

The 2019 Nexo’s top two attractions are that range I mentioned and, unlike the Mirai and Clarity, that it’s shaped into a CUV configuration. The two are connected: although both FCVs (hydrogen fuel cell vehicles) and BEVs (battery electric vehicles) carry very little energy, the barrier to upsizing a BEV’s battery is cost. For FCVs, the problem is figuring out how to package their bulky hydrogen tanks. The Nexo tackles its puzzle by dividing its hydrogen among three identical, cylindrical tanks that are neatly sandwiched under the cargo floor. The tall roofline offers some space to work with (this is an all-new, bespoke FCV platform) and the tank’s uniform size avoids the trunk-lumps imposed by the awkward big-tank/little-tank irregularity of the Mirai and Clarity.

Altogether, the Nexo carries 6.3 kg of 10,000 psi hydrogen, and like Toyota and Honda, Hyundai will initially cover much of the fuel’s high cost (about $17 per kg, with a third of it produced by renewable means). Six-point-three kg of H2 is a lot for a FCV, but it’s actually just the energy equivalent of 6.3 gallons of gasoline. Scared by that number? Welcome to the new math of electric vehicles: the Nexo’s efficient powertrain can convert it into an amazing 380 miles of range—the equivalent of 61 miles-per-gasoline-gallon for the base, 17-inch wheel Blue trim; the heavier, better-equipped, 19-inch wheeled Ultimate travels 354 miles. Two particular details make this particular FCV powertrain distinct: the 95-kW power output of Hyundai’s latest fuel cell has been deliberately reduced (compared to its Tucson-based predecessor) while its battery power rises to 40 kW. It’s a trade-off Hyundai figures is a better balance, letting it inhale more regen energy, and breath acceleration more like a battery-electric car (estimated to be about 9.5 seconds to 60). Anomaly Two is its exchanging the usual, whiney, roots-type air-compressor (pumps are needed to force air into fuel cells) for a less-efficient but hush-quiet turbo-compressor. Stamp the accelerator and at most, it softly whispers.

Despite the electric motor’s meager 161 hp, its torquey 291 lb-ft and EV-reactions scoot it through traffic just fine. It steers fluidly and brakes predictably; it cruises quietly, absorbs pothole peccadillos with aplomb, and its steering wheel regen paddles let you temper your speed with your fingers. It’s a delightfully refined, real-world get-around.

And smart-looking, too. The image that Hyundai’s Senior Chief Designer, Chris Chapman, pictured when he closed his eyes is a smooth river-stone. Serene. With water—or in this case, air—moving effortlessly past it. The nose is simple and polished; there’s air curtains to cox the air over the front wheel opening. And vents disguised into the C-pillar to lessens the trailing low-pressure zone. Notice the base of the A-pillar—it’s blacked-out.  Is this the start of ‘flying A-Pillars’ to complement the now ubiquitous flying roof?

I like the 2019 Nexo’s interior even more. The manic, sculptural, molded exuberance we’ve encountered with too many SUV instrument panels has been canned for a refreshingly clean, rectangular-ism. It’s centerpieced by an elegant, monochromatic flying center console of subtle buttons, capped by a swipable, Apple-esque touch screen of quick-comprehend icons. After staring—usually confused—at one after another user interfaces from Acura and Toyota, lately, this thing really seems to get it. Why doesn’t Hyundai replicate this into every one of its interiors?

As the Nexo name suggests, it’s also a rolling showroom of Hyundai’s next-gen features. To the Highlight Reel: Toggle the turn signal and a video feed from the left or right cameras appears on the driver screen; start to steer into an occupied lane and the Nexo’s wheel resists your imminent knuckleheadness; if you slowly pass an open perpendicular parking spot of your dreams, the car will signal you to stop. Get out and hold a button on the fob, and as long as you’re walking beside it within 5 feet, the car reverses-in and does all the rest.

Suddenly an alert blinks on my phone. It’s Larry again. He’s at a station now, trying to fill up his Mirai and sends me a picture of the pump. There’s a hand-written note taped on it: ‘H70 Not Working. Use H35 Nozzle. If you are below 1/2 tank it will give you fuel. If you’re above 1/2 you won’t get fuel.’ H70 is hydrogen pressurized at 10,000 psi, which is what he needs. He adds “Of the two hydrogen stations on my daily route, one has been down since last Friday, the other since god knows when. Now I need to go to Anaheim, 20 miles away to refuel. I’m off to hell.”

A hydrogen fuel cell vehicle takes about the same time to fill as a gasoline car’s fuel tank—three to five minutes—an often-sited, killer-advantage over a battery EV’s long charging times. But during the Q&A after the Nexo technical presentation, Dan Neil of The Wall Street Journal, barked “What good is a 5-minute refill if it takes 20-minutes to get to the station?” Larry would have followed that with a screamed, ‘And then the station is down!’

Like the Nexo, the Kona Electric is also a front-drive, electric CUV, but 19.3 inches shorter, 3.0 inches lower, 2.3 inches narrower, and sits on a platform shared with its two gas-engine siblings. Up until this car, I’ve regarded non-dedicated battery-EV platforms as 100-percent lousy BEV platforms because enough battery space never gets baked-into their blueprints. But the Kona Electric’s 64 kW-hrs of battery energy tops the Bolt’s 60, it fits innocuously under the floor and rear seat, and its liquid-cooled thermal management way-better copes with high and low temperature charging (it’s over twice as quick at -4 F, 40 percent quicker at 104 F). As the power output of SAE Combo fast chargers upgrade above 50 kW, the Kona will be ready with a 75 kW appetite that can be satiated in 54-minutes. If you’ve scheduled a charging to happen automatically during late-night off-peak hours, a convenient button next to the charging port lets you override that and charge ‘now’ without climbing into the car to change it. And the battery’s default charge limit can be tailored to your typical needs to reduce battery wear (ala Tesla).

The Kona Electric has regen tricks, too: finger-tug the left and right steering wheel paddles lets you toggle up and down through four levels of regen, ultimately reaching 0.25 g (a genuine, casual braking rate) if you hold the right paddle; keep holding it and you can ride all the way down to a complete stop. And why didn’t-we-think-of-this-one: its default rate of deceleration is kept constant regardless of whether the road’s level, uphill, or descending by automatically dialing regen up and down. There’s a sort of cruise-control lite, too: While following a car ahead, the Kona can automatically apply regen for minor speed corrections (though accelerating still requires your right foot).

Hyundai says that all its shifters will migrate to button arrays (away from classical slot-shifters) and tapping this one’s Drive button is more or less symbolic of the effortlessness with which the Kona operates. Starting at $37,000 (before tax incentives) even the base, SEL version (let alone the pricier Limited and Ultimate ones) has a drivetrain polish that would make some $100,000 German luxury sedans blush. One-speed, vibrationless electric drivetrains are just as hard to follow, this one’s claimed 7.6 seconds to 60 mph seems way swifter than that due to its typical zero-rev torque burst. Dynamically, its biggest fault is simply road noise (that weird warble at low speeds is pedestrian alert). Other niggles? The back seat is tight, and it’s aero-friendly nose is, well, a matter of aesthetic opinion. But if I were in the market for an affordable, electric, silky-driving everyday commuter with good adaptive cruise control, genuinely useful lane-centering, and a helpful head-up display, the Kona Electric Ultimate would be on a very short list.

Larry sends a third text. He says his Mirai never completely refills, leaving him with a real-world range of around 230 miles, not the claimed 312. “So I need to plan a stop when there’s 80-90 miles left which means I have to do that pretty much every other day.” (Later, he sends me a dash picture of his 229-miles of range just after filling; he drives pretty hard, but I get his point). Our logbook from a long-term a Mirai driven by an economy-minded editor, averaged 279, and Mirai Facebook pages finds drivers often seeing about 250.

What’s going on? The scarcity of dispensers may be resulting in a conga-dance of one-after-the-other fills at the stations, dropping their pressure for a while. Or maybe it’s something else. Some months ago, I had the chance to co-drive a Nexo prototype from Chino (CA) to Las Vegas—an indirect route of 240 miles (plus some detours)—and its 380-mile range claims seemed to be on the up and up.

Which is a real tragedy. For years, the emergence of the FCV has been the chicken or the egg story: no cars, no stations; no stations, no cars.

Now, there are cars, but the infrastructure has chickened out. The Mirai and the Clarity FCV have collapsed the technology’s astronomical costs, and the Nexo is the perfect FC jigsaw piece for today’s puzzling consumer tastes. But their stations remain confined to Southern California and the Bay Area, and remain unevenly scattered in only 35 locations, with five opening soon, and a total of 59 by the end of 2020. At this rate it will take 6,000 years to equal the U.S. population of gas stations (that have multiple pumps, not just one). Conversely, the Kona Electric will be stocked in all the western and northeastern dealerships following California’s zero-emissions-vehicles (ZEV) lead, but can be ordered anywhere in the country because there’s some sort of charging opportunity all over the place (starting with the electrical panel in your house, if you have one).

There’s nothing quite like an emergency to simplify your decisions, and the UN Climate Panel’s flare gun shot into the overheating sky should abruptly—and yes, maybe cruelly—conclude this one. Nissan/Infiniti’s variable compression ratio technology and Mazda’s compression-ignition gasoline engines are great, but too late, and in the end, just friendlier versions of the gasoline-burning that’s created the problem in the first place. And while fuel cell transportation should be encouraged in commercial trucking—and someday, maybe around-the-clock autonomous ride-hailing, too—it’s the fuel of a future that simply isn’t happening. Ironically, it’s VW’s financial penalty for its diesel gate misdeeds (what’s financing the Electrify America charging infrastructure) that’ll be driving $2 billion worth of nails into hydrogen’s coffin.

After he’d settled down a bit, I asked Larry whether he’d buy the Nexo or Kona Electric “You don’t even need to ask me.” But when I reframed the question “What if you lived and commuted in westside L.A. where there’s lots more H2 stations?” he softened. “If the filling were free … I’d probably consider it.”

The trouble is, we don’t all live and work in westside Los Angeles. Arresting the planet’s CO2 mess has to happen by 2030.

Check out the Kona Electric.

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