Toyota Mirai vs Hyundai Nexo

What's the difference?

Believe it or not, the Mirai represents a pretty big gamble for Toyota, a company who has been known in the past for being relative conservative with its vehicles.

In recent years though, with models like the GR Yaris and even the RAV4 Hybrid, it seems like Toyota is more willing to go out and take a chance on something that would not be considered a safe bet.

The Mirai represents this willingness to experiment, but it is still too early to say whether it will a winner or a failure.

It drives well, looks good and its powertrain is a potential gamechanger for electric cars in Australia, but whether hydrogen takes off locally with customers is beyond Toyota’s control and up to those willing to invest in refuelling infrastructure.

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.

Remember your awkward teenage years when you were still a little uneasy in your own skin and tried to find your way in terms of your own style? (I certainly do!).

Now remember bursting on the scene in your 20s with the confidence and swagger of a Calvin Klein model after working out your niche? (I’m still waiting for this to happen).

Well, the Mirai certainly remembers because the inelegance of the first-generation car has given way to a much more confident and handsome model.

From the outside, there is no denying its Toyota-ness and from certain angles the new Mirai even looks a bit like its Camry cousin, with a bit more flair.

The split front lighting signature and massive grille direct your eye to the blue-tinged Toyota badge, which the Mirai wears proudly, while the puffed-up bonnet and lower-bumper chrome accent add a touch of sportiness and class, respectively.

Move to the profile and you will see 19-inch wheels filling the arches, as well as a sloping rear roofline and silhouette that echoes the best of the premium German sedans.

From behind, the body-wide tail-light design and subtle spoiler adds to the Mirai’s strong road presence without looking over the top, but I especially like the way the lines of the former continue down the bumper to break up the body panels.

If you can’t tell already, I'm a fan of the exterior looks of the Mirai, and I bet if the Toyota badge was swapped out for a Lexus one, no one would think it looked out of place.

Step inside the Mirai and there are familiar Toyota appointments like the way the dashboard sweeps away from the driver, as well as a shifter design lifted from a Prius.

The surfaces are all soft-touch, though, and the mix of leather and gloss-black materials combine to elevate the interior ambience.

The interior of the Mirai might not be as stunning as the exterior, but it is certainly no drab and depressing place to spend some time.

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.

Measuring 4975mm long, 1885mm wide, 1470mm tall and with a 2920mm wheelbase, the second-generation Mirai is comparable in size to a mid-size sedan like the Camry and Mazda6.

However, it is a little longer, wider and lower, with an elongated wheelbase, and is in fact larger in all dimensions (save for height) than a Honda Odyssey people mover!

You’d think this would afford passengers heaps of room, but all the whizz-bang cutting-edge technology has to go somewhere.

Based on Toyota's new GA-L platform, the second-generation Mirai is fitted with three hydrogen tanks – two smaller ones positioned laterally behind the rear seats and one large one mounted longitudinally where a traditional transmission would sit.

What this means is that rear seat room is compromised, and the hydrogen tank eats into the middle seat’s legroom so much that the new Mirai might as well be a four-seater.

Leg- and shoulder-room in the second row are adequate, but the sloping roofline means it can be hard for taller passengers to get comfortable. I'm 184cm (6'0") and had trouble.

Move to the front seats though, and it’s a different story with comfortable and supportive seats offering plenty of adjustability for drivers/passengers of any size.

Storage options are also ample, with a door pockets, a centre storage bin, two cupholders and a tray for your phone/wallet.

Opening the boot reveals a cavity large enough for just 272 litres (VDA) of volume – less than the smaller-sized Corolla sedan (470L) and well-down on the similarly-sized Camry (524L).

Like the rear seats, boot space is compromised by powertrain components, the culprit being the battery and electric drive motor found above the rear axle.

The rear seats in the Mirai are also fixed, which means they won’t fold down to open up more volume.

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.

What even is a hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle? Well, we're not scientists but the way we understand it is that there is a special component in FCEVs - the fuel cell - which combines incoming air with hydrogen to produce electricity, with the only bi-product being water.

The single electric motor driving the rear wheels of the Mirai outputs 134kW/300Nm, which enables a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 9.2 seconds in the 1900kg sedan.

Top speed is also pegged at 175km/h – or well and truly above the road-legal limit – and the electric motor is paired with a single-speed auto transmission.

Performance may seem underwhelming, especially when mainstream electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Kona Electric can hit triple digits in a much faster 7.9s time, but the Mirai is designed for efficiency and smoothness, not performance.

Hyundai's Nexo meanwhile, makes 120kW/395Nm from its electric motor.

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.

Official consumption figures for the Mirai are published at a combined 0.7kg of hydrogen per 100km… which doesn’t really mean much without a frame of reference.

The 2021 Mirai is fitted with three hydrogen for a combined capacity of 5.6kg (or 141 litres) that enables a driving range of 650km when tested on the WLTP (Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure) standards.

Okay so a 650km range is pretty good and comparable to diesel SUVs of a similar size, but that’s moot if refuelling costs more.

Because hydrogen refuellers are not yet readily available, the cost of refuelling is still a little unclear, but Toyota has said it works out to be around $70-80 to fully refuel the second-generation Mirai, making it comparable to filling up a petrol or diesel car.

The new-generation car also features three hydrogen tanks instead of two, which means during range is up 30 per cent compared to the first-generation Mirai.

Meanwhile, the Hyundai Nexo features a 6.33kg hydrogen tank, enough to propel it around 666km before needing a refuel.

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.

Toyota is positioning hydrogen as a potential future fuel source that is – crucially – sustainable and eco-friendly, which means the Mirai has a lot riding on its shoulders.

And behind the wheel the new-generation Mirai drives just fine.

The Mirai uses hydrogen to create electricity to drive its wheels, which means it feels very much like a battery electric car from the driver’s seat.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but keep in mind Toyota’s potentially revolutionary drivetrain won’t feel so revolutionary behind the wheel.

Like all EVs, torque is available instantaneously for a quick and peppy pick-up off the line, but the Mirai won’t demolish the 0-100km/h sprint like the Porsche Taycan or Telsa Model S.

Designed for efficiency rather than pace, the Mirai will accelerate briskly to 60km/h, but takes 9.2s to hit 100km/h – not that we got to test the latter in the extremely short drive loop in Melbourne’s West.

Despite tipping the scales at over 1900kg, the Mirai’s ride is soft, supple and extremely compliant, almost to a fault.

Steering feels light and effortless, while 19-inch wheels do nothing to upset the serene and comfortable interior ambience – it’s seriously good enough to be a Lexus.

What’s so striking about driving the Mirai though, is how much it could appeal to motorists who travel long distances (as is often the case in Australia) and can’t afford the sometimes 10 hours required to recharge a battery electric vehicle.

Refuelling the Mirai is as quick and easy as a conventional petrol or diesel car. Australia just needs more hydrogen stations to make use of the technology and open up electrification to those that may not have considered it (or deemed it unfeasible for their needs) in the past.

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.

Unlike new Toyotas on sale now, the Mirai does not come with a warranty because is only available on a three-year/60,000km lease.

There are servicing costs though, with Toyota charging a one-off $2693 fee for maintenance of the Mirai over that lease period.

Scheduled service periods are every 12 months/15,000km, whichever occurs first, though it is unlikely every Toyota dealership will ultimately be able to service the Mirai.

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.