The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tested its hydrogen-powered vehicle in the form of the Hyundai Nexo, which scored the top safety rating
When it comes to the future of automobiles, then Electric Vehicles (EV) are the ones on which many are betting, but there are also the Fuel-Cell driven cars which may not be as popular but have certainly got the attention of many.
Now, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has gone ahead and crash-tested their first-ever hydrogen-powered vehicle in the form of the Hyundai Nexo. And surprisingly, it has scored top honours by bagging the Top Safety Pick+ Award.
For this, the vehicle that is being tested has to get a minimum of ‘Good’ rating in the six tests which include small overlap front left and right, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints and seats. On top of this, the vehicle needs to also have good headlight ratings and superior ratings for the front crash prevention. And the Nexo hit the nail on its head in all these fronts.
In response to this, IIHS said, “Its standard front crash prevention system earns a superior rating. The vehicle avoided collisions in 12 mph and 25 mph (19-40 km/h) track tests and has a forward collision warning system that meets National Highway Traffic Safety Administration criteria.”
Coming to the car, the Hyundai Nexo gets standard LED headlights, 17-inch alloy wheels, heated and electronically adjustable front seats, synthetic leather along with several driver-assist features like automatic emergency braking, blind-spot warning and adaptive cruise control – as standard.
What sets it apart is that the Nexo uses Hydrogen to run which, in case of refuelling, takes just 5 minutes to give a range of up to 612 Km in the Blue spec variant and 570 Km in the Limited spec variant. Both of these versions produce 161 hp and 394 Nm of torque and the car is capable of doing 0-100 km/h dash in just 9.5 seconds.