“Not dead” – Hyundai considers future hydrogen car for Australia

A new wave of hydrogen-powered passenger cars could be bound for Australia.

Hyundai says the company is considering a new hydrogen vehicle locally, and insists the technology still has a future here – provided it can find buyers.

“[Hydrogen isn’t] dead for passenger vehicles,” said Scott Nargar, Senior Manager of Future Mobility & Government Relations at Hyundai Australia.

“We're still under evaluation for the next generation fuel-cell car. The biggest thing is you've got to find is customers.”

As first reported by CarExpert in September 2025, the hydrogen Nexo received Australian Design Rule certification from the Department of Infrastructure, with a spokesperson for the brand saying the model was set to be launched in 2026 – though the vehicle has yet to make an appearance.

It’s not clear whether the vehicle under evaluation is the current Nexo, or if there’s a new hydrogen model in development by Hyundai that has yet to be revealed to the public.

Both Hyundai and Toyota invested heavily in hydrogen several years ago, building refuelling stations at their headquarters in Sydney and Melbourne respectively, while offering the Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo to fleet customers – including Queensland Police.

“The technology is not as cheap as electric – and even in trucks, there's still a considerable cost over an ICE truck or even an EV truck. There's certainly people who are interested in taking the vehicle, because we had no shortage of customers,” Mr Nargar told CarExpert.

“[What] we need to be looking at – for our transport fuels in the future – is making ourselves more secure, and we've got those assets here to do it: sun, wind, and then fossil fuels.

“How are we going to look to change our transport networks to suit the resources we've got here with the technology of [the future]? I say the future, but the technology of now, it's here. We just need to look at the infrastructure required.”

MORE: Explore the Hyundai Nexo showroom