Want A Hyundai Nexo? You Can Now Get One With A $20,000 Discount In California

Sadly, hydrogen infrastructure doesn't really make it practical outside the Golden State

Want A Hyundai Nexo? You Can Now Get One With A $20,000 Discount In California
The Hyundai Nexo is a great car, but its hydrogen fuel cell powerplant limits how far it can travel — not to mention the price tag. (Images: Hyundai)

Here’s a huge Hyundai Nexo deal, if you can make use of it.

It’s not often we see massive, massive discounts on Hyundais, but the sluggish-selling Nexo is an exception today. CarsDirect reports the automaker sent a bulletin to dealers, offering roundabout a 30% discount on the hydrogen fuel cell EV — a solid $20,000 off MSRP. What’s more, you also get 0% APR financing for 6 years. But — and you know this is coming — there is a caveat to that offer.

It’s not that there’s some financial trickery to get it, but that deal is only applicable to the top-spec Hyundai Nexo Limited. Mind you, that model starts off at $62,385. Beyond the fact you can only buy this car at a handful of California dealers, that’s an eye-watering amount of money for what is, at its core, a small Hyundai crossover. Shaving $20,000 off the price makes it more competitive with its main hydrogen rival, the Toyota Mirai. If you want the Hyundai Nexo Blue instead, you reportedly get a $7,500 discount with the 0% APR financing. That’s still a good deal, but there’s only a $3,450 price gap between the two trims in the first place. So, you actually come out about $10,000 ahead getting the fully-loaded Limited model anyway, strangely.

What if you want to lease instead? You can still get a discount, and therefore a lower lease rate, but that comes out to $11,250 on the Blue and $8,750 on the Limited. Again, California’s the only state where the Nexo’s officially sold, and there are only a few dozen available depending on where you live. Even in the Golden State, a relative lack of hydrogen fueling infrastructure — even compared to battery-powered EVs — still leave some juggling to determine whether even a heavily discounted Nexo makes sense.

Nevertheless, there you have it — $20,000 off a Hyundai, and I guarantee you will never, ever see that on any of the brand’s mainstream models. Even in this major inventory crunch there’s money to save, as long as you have the means to refuel the Nexo and want a car that’s outside your ordinary Kona or Tucson.

Hyundai’s current incentives end on July 6th, so there’s not too much time left if you’re in the market now. That said, we may see some solid incentives down the road as inventory builds up on dealer lots again.