A case about a defective hydrogen car has reached its provisional end, after the owner received a bill of a whopping DKK 775,000 from Hyundai.
A dispute between a German Hyundai owner and the car brand's German importer has ended in a settlement. The brand has ended up buying the car back.
The now former owner was otherwise left with a bill of a whopping 104,000 euros, equivalent to 775,000 kroner, because the fuel cells in the hydrogen car stopped working.
That's what Auto Bild says.
Till Westberg, an entrepreneur in the IT industry, bought a Hyundai ix35 as it was only lightly used. After seven years, however, the car only had a short 84,000 kilometers when the fuel cells stopped working completely.
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The result? A bill of DKK 775,000 for replacing them. It is not worth a Hyundai ix35 at all. Not as new either, as this kind could be obtained from Hyundai dealers between 2009 and 2015.
A new fuel cell alone would cost Hyundai in Germany 84,875 euros. That is 635,000 Danish kroner.
The Hyundai importer also admits to Auto Bild that the repair of the hydrogen car does not make economic sense at all. Among other things because only around 1,000 copies of the car were built.
But getting a new fuel cell was apparently the only option Till Westberg had. Because the 5-year warranty on the car had long since expired.
But now a longer fight has ended with Hyundai in Germany having bought back the ix35. Birgit Scheppat, an expert in hydrogen technology, also believes that car manufacturers with hydrogen cars in the program – regardless of whether there are few of them – should do so.
In Germany, unlike at home, there are still hydrogen stations in operation. And therefore it is possible to refuel with hydrogen. At first, however, Till Westberg accepted that he had to drive 114 kilometers from his home just to fill up the Hyundai with hydrogen.
Monday car or not, the hydrogen car is not as dead as the current range of the car type leaves an impression. At BMW, for example, they still believe in technology.
In fact, the Germans believe in the hydrogen car so much that they have developed a hydrogen version of the SUV X5, which is also cheaper than the diesel-powered ditto. Read more about it here .
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