This car by Hyundai was unveiled as a concept car 2022 ,and is now confirmed to come in the next years, and the automotive community went wild for the styling that was a modern retro sports car that looks like something out of a cyberpunk game. Although the car is praised for the styling and looks, what else is interesting is the fact that it uses hydrogen.
“In terms of technology and design, the N Vision 74 has an innovative look worthy of the name – rolling lab. Although the N Vision 74 uses a hydrogen-electric hybrid drivetrain, it boasts a system configuration that is different from a general hydrogen fuel cell or battery-based electric vehicle.” (Hyundai 2024)
“Unlike the existing hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that uses an integrated hydrogen fuel cell stack and motor, the N Vision 74 separates the two. This is to improve cooling control and airflow and to integrate the driving battery with the body structure. Accordingly, a hydrogen fuel cell stack was mounted on the front axle of the N Vision 74, and a drive motor and two 2.1kg hydrogen tanks were placed on the rear axle. And the battery is arranged in a T-shape in the center of the body.”(Hyundai 2024)
“The hydrogen-electric hybrid system mounted on the N Vision 74 has a high energy density-to-weight ratio. By combining fuel cell technology – which boasts fast charging in less than 5 minutes – and 800V battery fast charging technology, the charging speed has been improved; which is a major disadvantage of sustainable electric vehicles. And, by using hydrogen fuel cells, the single-charge range is increased when compared to electric vehicles.”(Hyundai 2024)
“Derived from the need to solve the problems of current sustainable high-performance cars, the N Vision 74 gets power from a hydrogen fuel cell with a capacity of 85kW and a driving battery with a capacity of 62.4kWh. The rear wheels are also driven by using two driving motors with maximum output and maximum torque of 500kW (about 680 horsepower) and 900 Nm, respectively.” (Hyundai 2024)
“To maximize the structural advantage of two powerful electric motors mounted on the rear wheel, the N Vision 74 houses the twin motor torque vectoring control system developed through the RM20e. As a result, it was possible to significantly improve turning power and handling performance by distributing power to the rear wheels in an extreme way. It can also drift, which is unusual for hydrogen-powered electric cars.”(Hyundai 2024)
What makes this so interesting is that as a partially electric car it is able to add something new, to make what has been a boring genre of car, and add this tech to make the car better in many ways, taking what has been a commute car and turned it into a car that can perform on the track, and something that has been extremely praised by the car community. What is important about this new tech is that they are taking a subject (electric vehicles) that many in the car community are not fans of, and making them interesting to where the community is excited for. I think that it is a major success when you are able to turn something that is often disregarded and turn it into a talking matter.
References:
Hyundai. (2024). N Vision 74 – Hyundai Worldwide. HYUNDAI MOTORS. https://www.hyundai.com/worldwide/en/brand-journal/mobility-solution/n-vision-74
