Genesis debuted a pretty, beefy new SUV – the first in the automaker’s young line — at NYIAS 2017. Now, all we need is a national fuel supply system that provides hydrogen filling stations.
The new GV80 is currently just a concept vehicle, but Genesis says a form of the vehicle is destined for showrooms come 2019. Regardless what final form the GV80 takes, the vehicle is destined to employ a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain.
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Hydrogen is undoubtedly the most workable and likely technology to replace internal combustion engines. Hybrids use a mix of gas and electricity, while purely electric cars use inefficient batteries. Automotive researchers are coming to the conclusion that the time spent developing better batteries is (…no pun intended…) wasted energy.
The most common element on Earth, hydrogen will eventually provide cheap energy with zero emissions. And, it can be stored and used as fuel along the model we’re all used to with gasoline or diesel. As science works on improved storage material to hold the smallest of all atoms, automakers like Genesis, Hyundai, Toyota, Kia and others are looking to a near future populated by hydrogen cars.
The GV80 builds on the already futuristic power train with other improvement like what would be the industry’s first curved, high-def infotainment screen. However, the styling looks like it’s not far off from fitting with the Genesis line of today.
Concept cars are suggestions of what’s to come, and it was once clear that such vehicles were fictions intended to indicate what an automaker could do as a showoff piece or what it wanted to do in a few year’s time. These days, concept cars are becoming preview editions of very real machines inbound from car builders. We’re seeing that with GV80, and we’ll see how close to this concept the SUV is once it arrives in two years.
