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2019 Hyundai Nexo Quick Spin Review | A better hydrogen fuel cell crossover

PYEONGCHANG, S. Korea — When we travelled to South Korea to test out the new Hyundai Santa Fe, we also got a chance behind the wheel of the new hydrogen-powered Nexo fuel-cell SUV. Hyundai unveiled the Nexo at CES in January as a replacement for the Tucson Fuel Cell, which logged miles and gathered data in 18 countries over the course of its generation. The Nexo is an improvement: It's more efficient, packed with smarter driver assistance technologies and, in our opinion, is more attractive. With a clean an uncluttered exterior, it has a familiar crossover profile, but the front end, is a little more unique with a large grille and uber-thin lighting tucked high under the front of the hood. The rear end offers a lot of blank sheet metal, which looks fetching in white. Aerodynamic vents behind the rear quarter windows open up at the back of the car beneath a sporty-looking spoiler. But it's the clean, sustainable future that its hydrogen fuel may provide that's most important. Which is not to diminish the benefits battery electric cars offer in the interim — and likely for the foreseeable future — but renewable electricity is intermittent. So how does one store massive amounts of clean electricity for long periods to use when it's not readily available? Hydrogen electrolysis – using an electric current to decompose regular water into oxygen and hydrogen. The beautiful thing about the abundant element is that it can be converted back to electricity, either on a grid-scale, or in the fuel cell of a passenger vehicle. (The less beautiful thing is how to store hydrogen safely, but that's another story.) Our first stint inside the vehicle took place in the back seat, where we had plenty of legroom and clean surroundings. The interior was white and grey with matte silver metallic trim. The plastics in the Nexo aren't particularly soft, but somehow Hyundai makes them look premium with fine grains and patterns — one of the tricks Hyundai uses to make its affordable cars feel like higher-end automobiles. We were comfortable back there, especially with rear seat heaters to ward of the winter chill in the Korean mountains as we drove past the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. When it came our turn to get behind the wheel, we felt right at home in the comfortable driver's seat. The steering wheel was attractive in its two-tone leather, and smooth to the touch.

2015 Hyundai Genesis 5.0 First Drive [w/video]

The original Hyundai Genesis was something of a mixed bag. A great first effort, no doubt, but as with any, well, genesis, there were weak points – the infotainment system and some interior materials, for example. In creating its second-generation model, Hyundai paid plenty of attention to these shortcomings while wisely deciding to retain the most notable of the original model's strengths: its 5.0-liter V8. The 420-horsepower rocket from the former Genesis R-Spec has once again been named the top-flight engine for this updated, 2015 model. Hyundai has comprehensively overhauled its first rear-wheel drive sedan, and while it might use an older – but impressive – engine, the 5.0-liter V8 isn't nearly as big of a story this time around. That's because it's now wrapped inside a far better package, as we found during a week behind the wheel. Hyundai's stylists have matured the Genny, opting for significantly more standout sheet metal in this new iteration. The old car featured a more traditional three-box shape, while the second-gen car is more open about its rear-drive layout, featuring a long hood and a short rear deck that feeds right into an aggressively raked rear window. The upright front fascia, with its broad, crisply styled grille and almond-shaped headlamps is clean and fashionable while still coming off as sort of conservative. Around back, Hyundai maintained some semblance of its old fluidic design, with sweeping, wraparound taillamps, while the V8 model's bumper is home to sporty, staggered quad exhausts. That said, the updates to the exterior are overshadowed by the comprehensive overhaul found in the cabin. The Genesis finally has an interior befitting of its price tag, thanks in large part to the swath of natural-looking matte wood trim on the dash, complemented by aluminum accents. The upper and lower dashes are finished in plastic, but its quality is no better or worse than what you'd find in a German competitor. However, while the cabin certainly feels much better than the last-gen model, there are still a few shortcomings. The "ultra premium" leather is standard on the 5.0's wide, supportive seats, and while it feels very, very nice, we did notice that even with fewer than 8,000 miles on the clock, a regular parade of denim-clad auto journalists has already started to stain the driver's side bottom cushion – something we noted during our year-long test of Hyundai's larger Equus.

Porsche, Jaguar continue dominance in 2015 JD Power APEAL study

The top of JD Power's 2015 APEAL Study has not changed much in the last year. Porsche remains No. 1 with Jaguar nipping at its heels, although both premium brands saw their overall score fall compared to 2014. For those that need a refresher, the APEAL Study looks at how "gratifying" a vehicle is to own and drive, rating cars and brands on a 1,000-point scale. The industry average for 2015 has increased from 794 to 798, while the total number of automakers that finished above the curve increased from 16 to 20. While Porsche and Jaguar finished at the top, their scores dropped eight and seven points, respectively, to 874 and 855. The top "non-premium" brand was Mini, which scored an impressive 825, up from 795. If the BMW-owned British marque is still a bit too premium for your tastes, last year's non-premium winner, Hyundai, did climb five points and is this year's runner up. At the opposite end of the scale, Smart sits at the very bottom of the rankings, with a score of 683 (it didn't appear on the 2014 rankings). Fiat also dropped, from fourth worst in 2014 to second worst in 2015, despite the 500 being named most appealing city car. Subaru made an impressive climb, from third worst to seventh, falling just 10 points shy of the industry average and two points south of the non-premium average. In the individual vehicle segments, eight brands earned multiple awards, with Ford, Chevrolet, and Porsche earning three apiece. Surprise segment victories included the new Ford Expedition, which beat out Chevy's popular Suburban. The Infiniti QX80 bested the likes of the Cadillac Escalade and Range Rover for best large luxury SUV, and the Dodge Challenger beat its muscle car rivals from Ford and Chevy. Most of the victories, though, were quite predictable. The Mazda6 and CX-5 took wins for the midsize sedan and compact SUV categories respectively, while the Volkswagen Golf captured the compact car win. The Ford F-150 won the large pickup category, while the Porsche Cayman was named most appealing compact premium sporty car. Check out the official release on the 2015 APEAL Study, available below, from JD Power. 2015 U.S. APEAL Study Results The latest safety-related technologies are among the drivers of customer satisfaction with new vehicles, according to the J.D. Power 2015 U.S.