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Recharge Wrap-up: Hyundai visually explains fuel cells, BYD T5 electric truck

Are you still unclear about how exactly a hydrogen fuel cell works to power a car? Hyundai is offering a great visual on how its fuel cells operate in cars like the Tucson fuel Cell. Basically, the anode splits the hydrogen molecule into a positive and negative ion. The negative ions are used for electricity, while the positive ions are pushed through a membrane to the cathode, where both ions are combined with oxygen to create the byproduct of water. There's a little more to it than that to make it work in a vehicle, so see for yourself in the infographic below. BYD is launching its T5 electric light truck in China. The truck has a maximum speed of 31 miles per hour, making it mostly suitable for in-city and campus duty. It has a range of almost 250 miles, though, and with its size, the T5 could make a pretty adept delivery truck. The battery is situated under the load bay between the axles, keeping the center of gravity low. Price could be an issue, but government subsidies might help convince some companies to make the switch to BYD's electric truck. See more over at Car News China. The Mahindra Reva e2o electric vehicle will offer a fast charging feature, called Quick2Charge. Normally, the e2o takes five hours to fully charge, but that time gets cut to just one hour with the new option. Choosing the Quick2Charge option adds 45,000 rupees (about $735) to the price of the e2o. The new e2o is supposed to get electric power steering, and, later, a four-door variant. Mahindra Reva is also making an export-only version with Quick2Charge, longer range, electric steering, airbags, and ABS. Read more over at Indian Cars Bikes. The Quebec-Vermont Electric Charging Corridor is set to expand with 14 new charging stations. Melanie Dufresne of the area's tourism board announced that the 240-volt chargers would be installed in Le Haut-Richelieu Regional County Municipality. Drivers will use a special access card to charge at the stations in the region for $2.50. The stations will be installed by the end of the year. To see all the locations and learn more about the announcement, head over to Hybrid Cars.

Hyundai Santa Fe facelift and interior redo spied

Hyundai just rolled out the third-generation Santa Fe in 2012, so it'll be a little while yet before the crossover warrants replacement altogether. It does, however, appear to be preparing a facelifted version for introduction in the near future. Spied undergoing testing in Europe, the updated Santa Fe looks poised to get a new grille, restyled LED foglamps, new bumpers front and rear, new taillights graphics and new exhaust tips. The cockpit looks like it's getting the once-over as well, with a new infotainment system in the dashboard. Beyond that we couldn't really tell you at this point, but we can expect the revised Korean crossover to arrive sometime later this year. Previous generations of the Santa Fe lasted for about six years on the market, however, so we wouldn't anticipate a complete replacement until 2018 or so. Related Video:

Hyundai mulling new small CUV under Tucson

Hyundai maintains it can barely build enough of its core models to satisfy North American consumers, but that doesn't mean it isn't keen to expand its offerings to capture developing segments of the market. According to Edmunds, one of those expanding niches could be the burgeoning subcompact crossover segment. The website quotes Hyundai North America president and CEO John Krafcik as acknowledging his company is "very under-represented" in crossovers, the market's hottest vehicle type.
With the discontinuation of the Veracruz, Hyundai is down to two CUV nameplates, Tucson (pictured) and Santa Fe, the latter of which covers two segments with a two-row Sport and long-wheelbase three-row model. And while Hyundai commands seven percent of the US sedan market, the company estimates it only has two percent of the truck segment.
And while Krafcik stops short of confirming a new model, he acknowledges "a new segment is emerging" underneath the Tucson and says, "I think it's something to look at." At the moment, the subcompact softroader segment remains small and somewhat amorphous, with tiny CUV offerings like the Buick Encore, Nissan Juke, and now-discontinued Suzuki SX4 illustrating that there are a lot of different ways to package and market such a vehicle.