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Hydrogen carmaker Riversimple hopes to get ahead of its competitors ahead of Britain’s promised “green revolution” that would see gasoline cars banned within 10 years.
While conventional battery-powered electric cars may be a few miles ahead in the zero-emission vehicle race, the company is betting that nascent hydrogen technology will power the cars of the future.
Hyundai of South Korea claims to be the current world leader, selling 5,000 units of its Nexo model in 2019, followed by the Toyota Mirai.
Its sales are dwarfed by those of battery-powered cars, of which there are now about five million on the world’s roads.
Riversimple is just an ambitious upstart compared to the Asian auto giants, but is currently the only British manufacturer in the industry with its flagship model, the Rasa.
Founder Hugo Spowers is eager to take on the greats with his own design model, whose name derives from the Latin ‘tabula rasa’, or clean slate.
Starting from scratch will give you an edge, he hopes, over the manufacturing giants who are focused on adapting gasoline-powered models to run on hydrogen fuel.
He also believes that hydrogen has a clear advantage over electric batteries because it offers much greater autonomy.
“A short-range car can be brilliant if it runs on batteries, and we need them and they play a role,” he said.
“But if you want the kind of range we’ve grown used to – 300 miles (482 kilometers) or more – hydrogen is way ahead in terms of overall efficiency,” he added.
Rasa will begin advanced testing in the coming months, with paying customers, including the Monmouthshire District Council in South Wales, which has approved a hydrogen refueling station in the town of Abergavenny.
It is the only site of its kind in the region, but recharging takes only a few minutes, compared to several hours for an electric battery.
– Rent-buy –
Cars convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and water, offering the advantages of electric cars: sharp acceleration, torque and quiet operation, without polluting emissions.
However, its environmental footprint remains a problem, as hydrogen comes mainly from natural gas that emits CO2.
Since electricity is increasingly obtained from renewable sources, there is hope that it can be used to create hydrogen from water through electrolysis.
Another problem is the cost of the vehicle.
Riversimple is trying to solve that through a rent-to-own scheme that includes maintenance and fuel costs.
The vehicle would still belong to Riversimple, which would give it an interest in sustainability.
“It’s paid monthly by direct debit and it’s all under one umbrella, which I think is fantastic,” Monmouthshire County Council Member Jane Pratt told AFP.
“This is a much more sustainable method of owning a car,” he added.
Spowers said he expected the total outlay to be competitive with that of a Volkswagen Golf.
“Although the car costs us more to build, because of these long revenue streams and because our operating costs will be lower,” the cost should level off, said Spowers, who plans to launch the Rasa in three years.
The company appears to benefit from the British government’s carbon neutrality target for 2050, and specifically from the target announced a few days ago to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2030.
British chemical giant Ineos and market leader Hyundai this week announced a partnership to develop hydrogen-powered vehicles and capitalize on the expected boom.
Hyundai suggested it could supply its hydrogen fuel cell technology to equip the Ineos Grenadier off-road model.
by William Edwards with Veronique Dupont
