2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Crossover First Drive

Hyundai is an aggressive company, and that applies to its green cars as much as the bread-and-butter sedans and crossovers it sells in growing numbers.

So when the company approached Green Car Reports to ask if we'd like to drive its new, hydrogen-powered 2015 Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell vehicle, that was a no-brainer.

All in all, we spent about two hours in the zero-emission compact crossover, mixing freeway driving and suburban stop-and-go travel with a refueling stop at a rare hydrogen filling station.

While Hyundai's sibling rival Kia has launched the 2014 Kia Soul EV, a battery-electric conversion of its all-new 2014 Soul "tall box" compact hatchback, Hyundai believes that hydrogen fuel cells are the better path to zero-emission vehicles.Hyundai has been developed its own fuel-cell technology since 2000, and has shown a few concept cars over the years.

The Tucson Fuel Cell was announced at the Paris Motor Show in September 2012, where it was known as the ix35 Fuel Cell (the Tucson's model name in Europe).

It entered production this past February, and it was one of three hydrogen fuel-cell cars shown at November's auto shows in Tokyo and Los Angeles.

Now, its first low-volume production hydrogen car--built on the same Tucson assembly line in South Korea as the gasoline version we get--is here.

It will be offered for lease next spring at a cost of $499 per month for three years, with $3,000 down.

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