Two hydrogen pioneers have taken real-world zero-emission motoring to a new level by driving a Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell 2,383 kilometres in 24 hours.

Arnt-Gøran Hartvig and Marius Bornstein travelled around the clock on public roads in Germany, emitting nothing but water vapour from the fuel cell electric vehicle. 

The two Norwegians covered the 300km route between Vatenfall's hydrogen station in HafenCity, Hamburg and a Shell hydrogen station in Sachsendamm, Berlin as many times as possible in 24 hours.

Refuelling the car takes as little as three minutes, enabling the drivers to maximise the distance covered. 

The accomplishment is the latest in a series of epic challenges to showcase the potential of fuel cell technology.

In June last year, the duo chose the ix35 Fuel Cell to travel a record 700km on one tank of hydrogen. They have also driven from Oslo to Monaco, refuelling only at the hydrogen stations already installed along the 2,260km route. 

Thomas Schmid, chief operating officer at Hyundai Motor Europe, said: "This endurance drive highlights both the practicality of our fuel cell electric vehicle's long driving range and the environmental credentials of our technology.

“Our Fuel Cell programme has already delivered many world firsts, so it is fitting that the Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell has once again delivered a new benchmark."

Hyundai Motor is the world's first automotive manufacturer to mass-produce fuel cell vehicles and make them commercially available. The ix35 Fuel Cell is already on sale and on the roads in 11 European countries. 

It is fitted with a 100 kW (136 ps) electric motor, allowing it to reach a maximum speed of 160 km/h.

It produces no harmful emissions - only water vapour comes from the tailpipe - and has an official driving range of almost 600km on one tank of hydrogen.