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  The Tucson FCEV powertrain is based on a 100kW fuel-cell system that is fed by two hydrogen storage tanks that hold 700bar.

Hyundai's ix35 compact SUV is being developed as a fuel-cell vehicle.

Hyundai is in the third phase of an ambitious five-phase fuel-cell-car development program based on the ix35. Like its Australian predecessor, in Korea the car is known as the Tucson - and while under the current development phase there are around 100 FCEVs as they are known - undergoing day-to-day testing and evaluation, from 2015 10,000 units a year will be produced and sold to ordinary motorists.

Hyundai says the realistic price tag for the Tucson FCEV will be around $50,000 but government rebates such as those in the United States would drop this to a more palatable $30,000. 

So far as Australian governments are concerned, despite continuing industry lobbying, there is stony silence on the issue of possible rebates for fuel-cell and straight electric cars. 

The Tucson FCEV powertrain is based on a 100kW fuel-cell system that is fed by two hydrogen storage tanks that hold 700bar. Power is transferred to a 21 kWh battery-driven electric motor. 

For its current guise, Hyundai engineers have been able to shrink the fuel-cell system by 20 per cent and have proved it can operate at temperatures as low as -25C. Interestingly tests have involved the full range of ANCAP/NCAP impact crashes and even shooting the tanks with bullets. 

The big advantage fuel-cell cars have over electric vehicles is their range. In the case of the latest Tucson FCEV it's around 650km  an impressive 76 per cent improvement over the predecessor model's capability. 

The Tucson's range compares with many electric vehicles' 150-or-so kilometres. To fill the Tucson with hydrogen from empty takes four-to-five minutes  a bit longer than filling a petrol-powered car. Most of the gas for Korea comes as a by-product from chemical processing. 

Korea could run 500,000 fuel-cell vehicles annual on just 20 per cent of by-product hydrogen so no additional investment will be needed for many years. During a drive of the Tucson FCEV on a tight road around the complex the front-wheel-drive SUV was, as you'd expect, eerily quiet and other than the monsoonal rain that was falling on the Tucson's roof and bonnet, all we could hear was the fuel-cell system's air compressor. 

Despite the car's claimed 12.9 second sprint time to 100km/h, it actually felt quite spirited. While it will probably be many years before fuel-cell cars establish themselves as a major segment of the motoring world, there's no doubt they're here to stay and in much greater numbers than the test cars that are currently undergoing shakedown programs around the world. And with zero emissions, the planet will love that.