Something about the Hyundai N Vision 74 fuel-cell electric concept car inspires a special kind of collective yearning. There have been several speculative reports of the vehicle going into production, followed by several responses from Hyundai executives that, “No, it is not.” The hunger even exists inside the company, the automaker’s chief creative officer and head of the N brand management and motorsport saying in their own ways they’d like to see more than a concept. Hard to know whether this latest claim is more collective delusion, but Korean outlet ET News (translated) writes that there will be a production version arriving in the first half of 2026.

ETNews says, “The possibility of mass production of the N Vision 74 has been raised several times, but this is the first time it has actually been confirmed,” without providing a source for the confirmation, not even the well-traveled “company insider.”  

So far, so something, it seems. And it gets better.

Enthusiasts still love imagining automakers trying to restore some kind of affordable, maybe-not-as-lightweight 1990s Japanese coupe to the market, e.g., the Honda Prelude and Toyota FT-Se concepts. Based on the Korean info, the N Vision 74 won’t be that. The coupe’s expected to make 800 horsepower from its hydrogen fuel cell heart, an output triple jump beyond the 680 hp in the concept. No word on whether that means sticking to two motors on the rear axle and making each more powerful, or something else. Such output could get the sprint to 62 miles per hour down to three seconds. Range will shrink as a result, from an estimated 600 kilometers to an estimated 400 to 500 kilometers.

Furthermore, ETNews writes that Hyundai plans to build just 100 cars. Seventy of them will be sold to the general public — by “general” we mean those who paid their way to the front of the lines — the rest will be campaigned in splashy race series’ in the U.S. and Europe.      

The tiny production run makes sense considering the power source. SNE Research found the Hyundai Nexo FCEV to be the best-selling hydrogen-powered vehicle in the world last year, its 10,700 units sold globally marking a 57% share of the 18,457 total global FCEV sales. Hyundai Group’s arguably doing more work than the Japanese to promote hydrogen outside the home country, though, not only selling the Nexo FCEV here, but also running a fleet of its hydrogen-powered Xcient FCEV Class 8 trucks at the port of Oakland, California, and building hydrogen facilities at its coming Georgia plant with plans to run FCEV supply trucks from the plant to the port. 

Hyundai Chairman Chung Eui-sun supposedly wants the N Vision 74 on the road and the track to showcase Hyundai’s capabilities and “to solidify its leadership in electrification technology.” The automaker is “discussing plans with partners” at the moment, we’re told. 

Hyundai’s taken what could be considered steps in that direction, applying to trademark the name “Hyundai N74” in Europe and in Australia. It’s also applied for patents on a hydrogen fuel cell setup that looks like the setup in the concept, although drawn in patent paperwork inside a Kia Stinger. Considering the testing and development a production N74 would need to satisfy Hyundai’s aims and those of qualified race teams, if ETNews is correct, this one can’t stay secret for long.