Jeep Compass vs Hyundai Nexo

What's the difference?

The Jeep Compass Trailhawk is a curious beast. On the one hand, it looks pretty cool, and it has a well-executed new interior, featuring one of the best multimedia set-ups in the business. It’s spacious and has a long list of standard comfort and safety gear.

Sadly, that’s where the positives end.

It is way too expensive for what you get, especially when you consider the quality of some of its rivals from mainstream and premium brands.

The driver assist features are badly in need of recalibration and the overall drive experience is a letdown.

If you really want a diesel-powered small SUV, perhaps look at one of the much better diesel models at the smaller end of the medium-SUV segment.

If nothing else the Nexo is a brilliant experiment to prove there can be more than one solution for a zero-emissions future. A lot of this depends on the power grid being more sustainable, but the most pressing issue for end-consumers, and Hyundai itself when it comes to FCEV technology, is the rollout of a more robust refuelling network.

At the end of the day, the thought of having an electric car with the range and refuelling ease of a petrol one is a much easier sell than the tall retail prices and compromises that come with an EV for every-day Australians. In a way, then, the Nexo is functionally an ideal blend of the old and the new. 

You can’t buy one yet, but as this SUV will lay the groundwork for hydrogen’s future, we’ll be watching it with a keen eye.

When the second-gen Compass was revealed, it was seen by many as a mini Grand Cherokee. Which isn’t a bad thing. It looks tough enough, but also has a softer edge than something like the Jimny.

As part of the 2021 update, Jeep refreshed the styling with slimmer LED headlights and a new daytime running light signature, a revamped bumper and seven-slot grille, as well as a broader bonnet.

The Trailhawk features variant-specific red and black decals on the bonnet, and a unique grille treatment, as well as the visible skid plates and red tow hooks.

It certainly gives the impression of having some off-road cred, and while some will love the Trailhawk name emblazoned across the bonnet, it’s a bit much for me. The 'Galaxy Blue' premium paint looks too sparkly in direct sunlight and has an almost purple hue.

An example of wishful thinking is the green ‘Diesel’ badge with a leaf next to it on the rear of the vehicle. Save the eco badges for your electrified vehicles, Jeep.

Like Toyota’s Prius, the Hyundai Nexo is not only a technology leader for the brand, but it also debuted many of its current exotic design elements long before they arrived on any mainstream model. 

A little larger than a Tucson, the Nexo has a dramatic honeycombed grille which maintains a paint finish, topped off with a strip of LED lighting which Hyundai says was to give it a distinctive look at night.

All its lighting is LED to fit with its avant-garde design, although when seen from the side or the rear it could be any mid-size SUV. 

There’s something sensible about that. The Nexo isn’t the kind of car which will polarise buyers because of its design alone.

Hidden away are very neat design elements, like functional air dams on the front guards and rear spoiler fitment, and hidden wiper blades under the bonnet cladding and tucked under the rear spoiler. 

There is also intricate pattern-work on the light fittings, making for an admirable overall attention to detail befitting such an interesting, if typically shaped, SUV.

Inside, and Hyundai points out that the Nexo was the first of its cars to get the 'bridge' centre console which now appears on the Santa Fe, Palisade, and Kona EV. 

It’s an impressive design element, really lifting the cabin ambiance on all the vehicles it appears on, although the plethora of buttons smattered across its face is reminiscent of older Porsche models, and not necessarily in a good way. It can be tough for first-time or occasional users to find the button they’re looking for.

The Nexo was also one of the first Hyundai models to score the impressive dual screen layout, consisting of a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen.

Trim options for our market consist of a two-tone cream or a navy blue leather-appointed upholstery.

Again, there are attention-to-detail elements here, with interesting grain designs across the dash-topper and door cards, with many of the fittings appearing in silver rather than black to add a touch of futuristic flair. 

Hyundai promises sustainable 'bio-based' plastics are used extensively in the interior, leading to a 12kg reduction in CO2 emissions during the production process. 

There are also vegetable oil-derived paints used in the cabin, and fibres made using corn and sugarcane waste material. Nice to have some real eco bragging rights on something a lot cheaper than a BMW i8.

The Compass sits in the small-SUV category but its larger dimensions mean it’s almost big enough to compete with models in the medium-SUV segment.

It’s longer, taller, wider and has a longer wheelbase than other larger small SUVs like the Kia Seltos and Honda HR-V, but isn’t as big as a mid-size Mazda CX-5.

It feels larger inside than other models it shares a platform with – namely the Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X, that are no longer sold in Australia.

The biggest change ushered in by the update is the interior. Jeep has completely overhauled the cabin to the point that it’s unrecognisable compared to the pre-facelifted model.

The new dash design is much more appealing and the layout is well executed. There’s a mixture of soft-touch materials and plastic panels with red stitching running across the fascia. It’s so much more up-to-date than the old Compass and there’s a robust yet semi-premium look to the cabin.

A new steering wheel is in keeping with Jeep’s new generation of models that includes the Grand Cherokee due in Australia this year. It’s chunky, feels nice to touch and features clear audio, phone and cruise controls.

Jeep has persisted with its quirk of housing the volume and song/station skip buttons on the rear side of the steering wheel spokes. Once you remember which side volume lives (the right), it’s easy to change the levels. But surely it would be better to house them on the front of the wheel, with labels?

Storage wise, the glove box is narrow, as is the central bin, but it’s deep. The doors will hold 600ml bottles and the console houses two decent-sized cupholders with durable rubber lining which is easy to clean and can take a beating. The cupholders are separated by an upright phone holder.

Speaking of durable, that’s clearly the theme Jeep is going for with the Compass Trailhawk interior. It comes standard with rubber mats throughout, including the boot, which is great for protecting the carpet if you fancy a bit of camping.

What isn’t durable, however, is the cheap and tacky indicator stalk that feels like it will snap off every time you touch it.

After spending some time in European cars prior to the Jeep, it’s nice to experience strong air flow from the air conditioning system, especially at the height of a Melbourne summer. It’s also great to see physical buttons for the air con controls.

You can, however, also control the climate via the latest 'Uconnect 5' multimedia system housed in the 10.1-inch touchscreen.

This system is undoubtedly one of the Compass’ strong points. The modern graphics look very cool and the main icons make sense.

Once you dive into the menu there are extensive options but it’s not overwhelming. It’s intuitive and clever. The sat-nav visuals are clear and appealing too.

It’s an excellent set-up and better than systems from a whole host of Jeep’s mainstream rivals.

Apple CarPlay set-up was easy but there is an odd lag when selecting a command on the touchscreen that isn’t there when you use the Jeep system.

Another highlight is the exceptional Alpine nine-speaker audio system that’s part of the Trailhawk Premium package. It’s a belter!

The new digital instrument cluster has clear dials but changing the screen layout is fiddly. The Compass also lacks a head-up display.

The front seats with red embossed Trailhawk across the front look good, but the cushion feels like it’s elevating you in the seat. It’s not a problem with the power adjustment, it’s just the way the cushioning is designed. Thigh support is limited but upper body bolstering is good.

Visibility is impacted by the narrow rear windscreen and the tiny rear windows behind the C-pillar, that are pointless.

Rear occupants have access to lower air vents, a USB-A and USB-C port, 230-volt AC plug and a 12-volt DC plug. There are two map pockets, rubber floor mats and 600ml bottles will just fit in the door.

Space wise, there’s plenty of leg and toe room in the rear, and just enough headroom for this six-footer to avoid scraping the headliner.

Getting in and out of the front and rear seats is easy thanks to the Compass’ ride height.

The rear seats are flat and firm and the 60/40 split-fold seats have a fold-down central armrest with two cupholders.

When you open the power tailgate, the boot doesn’t look particularly big, but at 438 litres (1251L with rear seats folded), it’s five litres more than the Kia Seltos GT-Line and eight more than the Haval Jolion.

A full-size spare wheel lives under the boot floor and the cargo area features metal tie-down hooks and a small storage tray.

The cargo blind is useful but there’s nowhere to stow it when it’s not in use. And you have to lower the rear seats when you want to put it back in place.

Being a mid-size SUV, the Nexo will possess many of the practicality attributes today’s buyers are searching for.

It has a similar right height and seat positioning to a Tucson, so it’s really bang-on for the market, and headroom despite a standard sunroof is excellent. Adjustability is also good with telescopic adjust for the wheel and 10-way electrical adjust for the seats. 

As is typical for Hyundai there are some great storage areas, with a large centre console box, a single large bottle holder and odd little storage tray, a huge cutaway underneath the console bridge (which houses the wireless charger and USB ports).

There are also large door bins, although these proved not so great for holding bottles as the door design and speakers limit the height of objects that can be placed there. 

There’s also an odd little pop-out bottle holder on the passenger side, I assume to make up for the fact that there isn’t a second one in the centre.

The back seats had a good amount of room, behind my own (182cm/6'0" tall) driving position my knees had plenty of airspace, although the presence of a 'transmission tunnel' which eats space for the middle seat was puzzling given this car is strictly front-drive only. 

Amenities for rear passengers include pockets on the backs of the front seats, a single 12V power outlet, and dual adjustable air vents. There are also small single bottle holders in the doors.

Boot space comes in at a competitive but not stellar 461-litres (VDA), or 1466L with the seats down. This is okay for the mid-size segment, although the loading lip and boot floor is quite high due to the presence of under-floor batteries. 

There is also no spare wheel for the Nexo, with only a small amount of room for a tyre repair kit.

Sadly, if you’re a private buyer and not a fleet customer, you can’t actually buy a Hyundai Nexo. At least, not yet. 

The brand is currently rolling this interesting SUV out amongst special interest fleet buyers, and our test drive comes as the first 20 examples are handed over to the ACT government which is also celebrating the opening of a new refuelling station in the territory.

Hyundai is leasing Nexos out to early fleet adopters for a set (and undisclosed) monthly fee for the time being but promises it will consider taking private orders once the refuelling network is more established and its usage is better understood. 

We’ll get back to you on price if and when it becomes more available to private customers. Don’t expect it to be cheap. 

We took a look at the Nexo’s Korean retail price, where it starts from the equivalent of A$83,645 before on-road costs and in Korea’s more forward-thinking case, tax benefits.

Thankfully though, as a “technology leader” for the brand, Hyundai’s local division has chosen to import the car with every possible spec item from the factory. 

This includes a dual-screen layout with a 7.0-inch digital dash as well as a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen with built-in navigation, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto connectivity, fully leather-appointed interior trim, heated and ventilated power adjustable front seats, heated steering wheel and outboard rear seats, dual-zone climate control, 19-inch alloy wheels, a sunroof, fully LED head- and tail-lights, an eight-speaker audio system, smart parking assist with remote function, flush door handles with keyless entry and push-start ignition. That’s a lot of stuff. If this were my fleet car, I’d be pretty happy.

Rivals? The only electric cars with anywhere near an equivalent range are the Tesla Model 3 ($86,325), Mercedes-Benz EQC ($141,400), and Audi E-Tron ($137,100), but as it is with these models you’re faced with high retail prices and long recharging times from anything but an ultra-fast DC station. 

There’s also the Prius-shaped-and-sized Toyota Mirai kicking around. It’s also an FCEV and also available to limited fleets.

As mentioned, the Compass Trailhawk is now the only remaining small SUV in Australia offered with a diesel engine. Well, from a mainstream brand at least. The BMW X1 is the only premium small SUV offering with a diesel donk.

The Jeep uses a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel delivering 125kW at 3750rpm and 350Nm at 1750rpm. It is paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission and comes with four-wheel drive as standard.

The Nexo’s hydrogen system is not really a drive component. It generates power for the electric motor, which is similar to the one that appears in the Kona EV. 

Like other EV models, it’s a permanent magnet synchronous motor mounted on the front axle, producing 120kW/395Nm. 

The hydrogen system is a grid of catalyst membranes which are essentially used like a giant battery to chemically combine oxygen sourced from outside the car with pressurised hydrogen. 

This reaction generates two bi-products: electricity and water, the latter of which exits the Nexo’s tailpipe.

The hydrogen system is capable of generating 135kW, just over the motor’s total output so there is always power to spare.

Powering the car’s auxiliary systems, and acting as a buffer to store excess and regenerated energy, is a hybrid-sized 1.56kWh lithium-ion battery under the boot floor.

Jeep’s official combined cycle fuel use figure for the Trailhawk is 6.9 litres per 100 kilometres. After a week of mixed but mostly urban driving, we recorded a much higher figure of 11.2L/100km.

The Compass has a 60-litre tank. Combined CO2 emissions are rated at 181g/km.

The Nexo drinks compressed hydrogen. It has 6.33kg worth of hydrogen storage tanks which grant it a generally EV-beating 666km of range. 

One of the key benefits of the hydrogen system is that it refuels in roughly the same time as it takes to fuel a diesel car, using a pressurised hose in a similar manner to an LPG vehicle.

The trouble is hydrogen is hard to source at a pump in Australia. There is one refuelling station at Hyundai’s Macquarie Park HQ in NSW, another just opened in the ACT, and a third one owned by Toyota which is about to open at its Altona, VIC HQ.

The fleet of 20 cars handed over to the ACT government will use the new pump, which for the first year will be providing free hydrogen as the system is evaluated.

Overall costs for the hydrogen after that time will depend on where it is sourced from. As Australia is uniquely positioned to generate compressed hydrogen (with an abundance of renewable energy idle time which can be stored in places like the ACT) the cost will come down over time. 

Right now, though, the brand estimates somewhere to the tune of $15 a kilo for an end-consumer, or about $90 to fill the Nexo.

Finally, a benefit for the eco-conscious, Hyundai pitches the Nexo as a product which actually leaves the air cleaner after generating energy, although there are some caveats.

The first is that the membrane requires use of platinum – a rare earth metal, and the second is hydrogen requires a lengthy, power-intensive and complex process to generate in a usable form. 

In the ACT government’s case this is less of a problem, as it will use 100 per cent renewably sourced idle energy to process the gas.

Jeep claims the Trailhawk has some off-road ability, but we didn’t get a chance to test that. Most driving was around town, freeways and city fringe.

The first thing I noticed when I got behind the wheel was the awkward position of the accelerator pedal. It could be the wheel arch intruding into the footwell, but the right side of my right foot constantly brushed the carpeted panel. It’s annoying and a clear design flaw.

Another flaw is the idle-stop system. When you park, the idle stop kicks in and cuts the engine off. But if you want to properly turn the engine off and get out of the car, you have to do something to wake up the engine, then turn off the ignition. Another annoyance.

The diesel engine is responsive enough, but it lags on take-off and it’s not as torquey as expected. Accelerating hard doesn’t reward the driver with instant response, and momentum is blunted by steep ascents.

It does come alive around 3000rpm which seems to be a sweet spot.

The nine-speed auto can sometimes hold gears and the brakes are on the spongey side.

The Trailhawk feels like a heavy vehicle on the road. Much heavier than its 1621kg tare weight would suggest. As a result, it lumbers along and makes for sloppy handling.

It moves around the road too much and there is quite a lot of body roll in corners. It’s slow to respond coming out of corners, too.

The steering feels lazy and it’s weighted on the heavy side. It doesn’t make for an engaging steer.

Ride comfort around town is well sorted. For the most part, it absorbs speed bumps and crumby urban streets, without offering a truly comfortable ride.

Overall ride quality diminishes at higher speeds. It’s busy and jittery and never feels settled.

Needless to say, this is not the small SUV to buy for navigating city traffic or to take for a fun drive on your favourite twisty country road.

A brief section of unsealed road highlighted the excellent traction of the Trailhawk.

The 225/60 R17 Falken Wild Peak tyres produce a bit of tyre noise on coarse chip roads but otherwise the cabin is fairly well insulated from outside noise.

To drive the Nexo is essentially no different to an electric car. It uses the same permanent magnet motor, the same regenerative braking, and the same buffer battery system.

This means a very quiet and smooth drive. It’s not quite the unleashed performance of a Tesla, but then that’s not really the point of the Nexo which leans into the comfort of the whole experience.

The drive and hydrogen reaction is entirely a silent process, although the Nexo emits a pleasant choral tone at low speed to alert passers by of its presence, same as the Kona EV.

Despite that strong torque number, the Nexo isn’t inclined to spin the wheels, and for balance reasons, Hyundai actually de-tuned the motor slightly to make it gentle off-the-line.

When it comes to corners the comfort is again emphasised, with very light and linear steering. The chassis is rigid enough to feel under control, although the comfort suspension tune will have it tilting around a little more than, say, a Tucson.

The ride is also far more forgiving than Hyundai’s sportier petrol range, with the Nexo undulating over bumps and corrugations with ease.

As is usual with Hyundai models, the safety systems aren’t too invasive, making the Nexo a friendly companion on the freeway, and the soft interior trimmings add to its near-luxurious feel.

The ACT government reps who will be receiving this car are of the mind that anybody that drives it will become an advocate for electrification, and I’m inclined to agree with them.

For most people it’s better in every way from behind the wheel when compared to a petrol car.

Despite being so low volume, the Nexo has a maximm five-star ANCAP rating and comes with the full array of active safety items from any other high-spec Hyundai model.

Included is radar-based auto emergency braking which works up to freeway speeds with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring with collision avoidance, rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, driver attention alert, auto high beam assist, and a top-down reversing camera. 

Also featuring is a blind-spot camera which appears in the instrument cluster when the indicator is applied.

The Nexo of course features the expected traction, stability, and brake controls, and has the regular suite of six airbags for the event of an actual collision.

The Compass comes with a five-year or 100,000km warranty and five years of free roadside assistance. Every time you service your vehicle at a Jeep dealer, another year will be added to the roadside assist program.

The servicing schedule is every year or 20,000km for a diesel Jeep, whichever comes first.

Jeep offers a capped-price servicing scheme for the first five years. The Compass Trailhawk costs $399 for each of these services.

Ownership is a tough one, because, well, you simply can’t own one. 

Either way Hyundai says the Nexo’s hydrogen drivetrain carries no warranty implications, meaning if you could own one (as Koreans can), it would still be covered by the brand’s five year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

In terms of servicing, the Nexo requires a visit once a year, although like a pure EV there are few items that actually need attention at one of these visits.

A top-up of coolant is only required about once every six years, and various filters need to be cycled out. Other than that, it’s just your usual wear and tear items like brakes and tyres.

As Hyundai leases the current vehicles out, it will be taking care of servicing for the initial batch.