Hyundai Initium Concept Previews Upcoming Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicle

You don’t need to be an auto-industry whiz like Elon Musk to know what the problem is with hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles: They don’t look enough like the Pontiac Aztek. If the Hyundai Initium concept is anything to go by, get ready to mark that issue resolved.

Hyundai does get credit as one of only three automakers to sell a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle in the U.S., though. And now it seems the company is readying a replacement for the Nexo, as it says the Initium previews a production vehicle that will bow in the first half of 2025.

Related: What Are Hydrogen Cars?

Electricity Without the Batteries

Like electric vehicles, fuel-cell vehicles are powered by electric motors. But instead of storing energy in a battery as an EV does, fuel-cell vehicles generate their own electricity. This is done in the fuel cell, which combines hydrogen from onboard tanks with oxygen from the surrounding air to produce electricity. That is why fuel-cell vehicles are often referred to as FCEVs, or fuel-cell electric vehicles. So far, they are only sold (or leased) in California because the hydrogen-refueling infrastructure elsewhere in the country is nonexistent. It’s even hardly existent in California, which currently has fewer than 60 retail locations.

For now, Hyundai is extremely tight-lipped about the Initium, saying only that it will have a range of more than 400 miles and a motor that makes in excess of 200 horsepower. For context, the Nexo can go up to 380 miles and generates 161 hp. The Toyota Mirai, the bestselling hydrogen vehicle in the U.S., has a range of up to 402 miles and 182 hp. Honda’s recently introduced CR-V e:FCEV, which has both a fuel cell and a battery supplying 29 miles of backup range, can go a total of 270 miles and has 174 hp.

More From Cars.com:

• What Are the Most Fuel-Efficient Cars?
• Electric Cars With the Longest Range
• Which Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Are Most Available?
• Research Hyundais
• Find Your Next Car

In the Beginning, There Was Aztek

Hyundai does say that the Initium — which takes its name from a Latin word meaning beginning or first — debuts the brand’s new design language, which it calls “Art of Steel.” That’s a long way from being an anagram of “Pontiac Aztek,” but that’s definitely what the Initium looks like. We’ll see in the first half of 2025 just how close the production version adheres to the concept’s styling.

Related Video:

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.