An Australian rally driver light-foots a hydrogen car to a world record.

AN Australian team has, by driving a Hyundai Nexo fuel cell electric vehicle somewhat conservatively, has unofficially re-set the world record for the longest distance travelled in a hydrogen-powered vehicle on a single tank.

Brendan Reeves, an Australian rally driver, drove a production specification Nexo for a claimed distance of 887.5km, exceeding the previous world record of 778km set by a Frenchman, Bertrand Piccard, also at the wheel of a Nexo, and the manufacturer-claimed range of 666km (measured on the WLTP scale). Basically the equivalent of Auckland to Wellington with 14kms to spare. The record distance is more akin to Auckland to Wellington, then puttering out just north of Taihape.

Hyundai Australia has not said if Reeves went into full-mode hyper-miling – an extreme form of energy-efficient driving – but the cited average speed of 66.9kmh, the trip duration of 13 hours and six minutes and that it involved ‘efficiciency-focused’ driving suggests it was very light-footed. Still, the feat achieved so much more than was anticipated it meant the car actually ran out of sealed road and ended its run on a dirt track.

Interestingly, to meet record-setting requirement, the official distance was gauged by the car’s own trip computer. The distance measured by an isolated GPS unit on board registered 903.4km, while the Google Maps distance showed 905km travelled.

The undertaking was monitored by Australia’s two biggest equivalents of the NZ Automobile Association. A representative from the RACV was on hand to seal the fuel tank at the start of the journey, and an NRMA representative confirmed the validity of the tank seal at the end. It has yet to be fully sanctioned for Guinness mention.

The drive started from the Essendon Fields in Melbourne then traversed through Broken Hill then Silverton, an outback town on the outskirts of Broken Hill, best known as the setting for 1980s post-apocalyptic action film Mad Max 2. The car then travelled some 60km beyond before the hydrogen tank was depleted on the Wilangee road beyond Eldee Station.

Reeves said he’d always hoped to achieve a world record “but I could never have guessed it would come about this way.

“As we set out from Essendon Fields in the early morning, I found Nexo immediately familiar and easy to drive - the controls are intuitive and easy to use, the driving position excellent and seats very comfortable.

“I was constantly checking the efficiency readout to maximise the distance I was getting per kilogram of hydrogen.”

He relied on techniques from rally driving “such as looking as far down the road as possible, as well as tips I have learned from my dad for driving a truck efficiently over long distances. 

The Nexo’s low fuel warning first lit up at 686km, with more than 200km of range left from that point. The fuel light started flashing after 796km, with 90km of real range remaining.

During the trip the Nexo consumed a total of 6.27kg of hydrogen, at a rate of 0.706kg/100km.

Hyundai says it purified 449,100 litres of air on the journey - enough for 33 adults to breathe in a day. It emitted zero CO2, where a standard internal combustion engine vehicle would have emitted about 126kg of CO2 over the same distance, the brand has theorised.

 Hyundai has 20 Nexos in Australia and they are being largely used by the country’s government. Hyundai NZ also has several, but has been far more sparing in their utilisation.

Unlike a conventional car, the Nexo couldn’t be replenished after it ran dry, as Hyundai Australia does not have a mobile hydrogen refueller. So it was transported back to Sydney on a trailer.