An innovative new hydrogen-powered car designed for city driving is set to be unveiled next week, Autocar reported on Tuesday (9th June).

The Riversimple Urban Car, which weighs just 350kg and is similar in size to a Smart car, was put together by teams at Oxford and Cranfield universities over a three-year period.

Its major difference to other hydrogen cars on the market is that it is powered by a 6kw fuel cell, which compares to the 100kw system used in the Honda Clarity, for instance.

Furthermore, the car - which is being backed financially by the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche - can reach 50 mph and run for over 200 miles at an equivalent of 300 mpg.

Hugo Spowers, head of Riversimple, told the news provider: "Cars evolved under very different constraints to those of today, so we must move on.

"The sale of cars still rewards the maximisation of resource use - whereas we now accept that we must minimise resource use."

Riversimple gave the car four electric motors on each wheel, which serve as both brakes and generators, while there is also a bank of ultracapacitors to store this electricity.

As a result, these reserves are capable of producing the car's acceleration, meaning a small fuel cell can be used in its manufacture.

Sebastian Piech, Porsche's grandson, describes the vehicle as a "major step towards practical 21st-century personal transport".

Riversimple intends to build ten prototypes initially and will run a pilot scheme - possibly in Cambridge or Peterborough - before rolling out the cars on a 20-year lease.

Their positioning in an 'open source' environment will allow any manufacturer to customise the design to fit local surroundings, meaning it could be a worldwide phenomenon.

Source:

Radical UK hydrogen car revealed (09/06/09)

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