Hyundai has quickly become one of the most exciting brands in the automotive industry since it started experiments with the Genesis Coupe in 2008. They made major headlines with the retro-styled Ioniq 5 which received high praise for its well-executed design. An Ioniq 6 was released with a similar design ethos and an even more aggressive Ioniq 5 N. But, one car was meant to take this design to the next level.
Hyundai introduced the N Vision 74 in July 2022, and it would take inspiration from the Hyundai Pony Coupe shown in 1974, It would then blend that with the pixelated design found on the Ioniq 5. There were confirmations that Hyundai would make this vehicle, but it seems it will never be produced.
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The Anticipated Vision 74 Has Been Canceled
A few days ago, a report from iNews24, a South Korean news outlet claimed an internal source said the N Vision 74 had been canceled. This came as a huge shock to the automotive world because, at the end of August, Hyundai confirmed that the Vision 74 would be made into production. This was well received since they were bold enough to make the Ioniq 5 and people loved it. There was an overwhelming love for the Vision 74 also since no other automaker seemed to be executing this retro pixel-style design like Hyundai.
The headline figures also made this car very exciting. For starters, it was going to be a hydrogen-powered hybrid capable of making almost 800 horsepower sending power to the rear wheels. Journalists even got to drive the prototype which means Hyundai was very serious about making this car. But it seems Hyundai may have pulled the plug on this one.
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The Hydrogen Powertrain May The Main Issue
While the Vision 74 may be an exciting vehicle, its powertrain may be its Achilles heel. Hydrogen cars have not done so well despite the environmental advantages. The most popular hydrogen car on sale is the Toyota Mirai but it has struggled to sell only 14,000 copies across two generations. Hyundai already has a hydrogen-powered vehicle known as the Nexo SUV, but that has sold only 1,600 units in six years. So far, hydrogen cars have been tested with affordable vehicles and they have all been sales flops.
Comparing this to the Vision 74, Hyundai had planned to make a limited run of just 70 cars which shouldn’t be a problem in this era where 500 examples of a model is considered limited. But, when you consider that there are only 59 Hydrogen stations in the U.S. with most of them being in California, no one would want to buy such a car. When you compare this with large gas-guzzling V-12 sports cars, there are gas stations even in remote areas so you could always top up when running low.
Hyundai hasn’t made any official statement to back up these rumors but from the look of things, a hydrogen-powered sports car might be a hard sell. However, we still hope Hyundai could somehow make this car work, maybe convert the hydrogen powertrain to a hybrid one instead, since hybrid vehicles are easier to make. Until Hyundai officially makes a statement, we’ll try to hold on to some hope that the Vision 74 may still make it to production.
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