Drivers of the Fuel Cell-powered Tucson have surpassed a new threshold by covering more than 1,000,000 miles (1,609,344 km) on Southern California’s roads and highways, while emitting only clean water.
Hyundai has estimated that by doing so, the Tucson FCV saved approximately 385 tons of CO2 emissions that would have been emitted from vehicles of similar size, which is exactly the type of thing environmentally-conscientious people love to hear.
Since its launch as the first mass-produced fuel cell car in the US back in 2014, Hyundai has delivered nearly 100 units, which can only be considered as a good start, though the Korean manufacturer has much higher hopes for both the car as well as the tech.
“Breaking the seven-figure consumer mileage barrier gives us new vision into the unlimited zero-emissions potential for Hyundai’s fuel cell vehicles”, said Mike O’Brien, corporate & product planning VP at Hyundai Motor America. “With our growing fleet of hydrogen-powered Tucson fuel cell vehicles accumulating one million miles this quickly, one can only imagine the unlimited potential for a zero-emissions hydrogen vehicle future.”
Hyundai’s service engineers needed permission from vehicle owners in order to receive and analyze periodic mileage updates from the cars in Southern California, which in turn allowed them to calculate cumulative mileage totals in order to assess fuel cell stack maintenance status.
This is i the Tucson FCV’s second important milestone in two months, after setting a land speed record for production fuel cell SUVs back in December.