2026 Hyundai Nexo: Next-gen hydrogen SUV wears bold new look

Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCEVs) remain niche products globally, but Hyundai is continuing its extensive hydrogen investment with a new Nexo.

Hitting the road for hot weather testing in the Spanish summer in heavy disguise, we can see the second-generation Nexo will shift away from the fluid, organic shape we’ve come to know with the current generation.

Instead, it appears the Nexo will receive radically different exterior styling, much like the Santa Fe did when it was redesigned in 2024.

The new Nexo’s boxier proportions bear a strong resemblance to the recently unveiled Initium concept, which was said to preview a Hyundai FCEV SUV expected to launch globally in the first half of 2025.

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No powertrain details are currently available, though the current Nexo incorporates a hydrogen fuel tank capable of storing 6.33kg of compressed hydrogen, plus a 95kW hydrogen fuel-stack, 1.56kWh battery pack, and a 120kW electric motor.

Hyundai claims a 0-100km/h sprint time of 8.0 seconds for the Initium concept and is currently targeting a range of more than 650km with the production version between refills. The current Nexo offers 666km of range, according to WLTP testing.

The Initium is said to be equipped with a new-generation FCEV powertrain comprising “large hydrogen fuel tanks”, a higher-output fuel-cell stack, a battery pack with “enhanced” capacity, and an electric motor producing 150kW of power.

It’s not known whether this spied prototype is a production-oriented version of the Initium concept, though both are slated as successors to the current Nexo. This prototype will likely launch sometime next year as a 2026 model.

Hyundai has now been working and developing hydrogen fuel-cell technology for 27 years. The Nexo is its latest FCEV and was first revealed in 2018 before arriving in Australia in 2020.

A handful Nexos have been made available to Australians through lease agreements for government fleets, though it remains unavailable to private buyers.

As it currently stands, there are nine hydrogen refueling stations around Australia, which much fewer than in regions likes South Korea, Europe and the US.

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MORE: Hyundai’s next hydrogen fuel-cell SUV previewed MORE: Everything Hyundai Nexo