The Hyperion XP-1 will be able to drive up to 1,000 miles on a single tank of compressed hydrogen gas and its electric motors will generate more than 1,000 horsepower, according to the company. The all-wheel-drive car can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in just over two seconds, the company said.
Hydrogen fuel cells are electric cars that use hydrogen to generate power in the car instead of using batteries to conserve energy. The XP-1 does not burn hydrogen, but uses it in fuel cells that combine hydrogen with oxygen from the air in a process that produces water, the only emission of the car, and a stream of electricity to drive the car.
The XP-1 has a much longer range than an electric car with a battery, because compressed hydrogen has much more power per liter than a battery, explained Hyperion CEO Angelo Kafantaris. Because hydrogen gas is very light, the total car weighs much less than one full of heavy batteries. This in turn makes the car energy efficient, allowing it to move faster and faster.
Hydrogen is the first and simplest element on the periodic table. Colorless and odorless, it has only one proton in the center with one electron around it.
Although it is the heaviest element in the universe, hydrogen does not exist naturally by itself. Before it can be used as fuel, hydrogen must be extracted from molecules of water, natural gas or other substances. This is normally done by using electricity to split those larger molecules apart. Energy is then released in the car when the hydrogen is combined again with oxygen.
The main advantage of hydrogen is that pumping a tank full of hydrogen takes much less time than recharging a battery. It only takes three to five minutes to fill the tank on the XP-1 for a journey of 1000 kilometers, for instance.
Hydrogen gas is also not subject to wear and degradation because batteries are, especially when charged quickly, Kafantaris said. The XP-1 has a battery that acts as a buffer for storing electricity generated by the fuel cell, but it is much smaller than the battery packs used in electric cars.
Hyperion already has several operational prototype cars, Kafantaris said. The first production cars are expected to be delivered to customers by the end of next year. Kafantaris did not detail prices for the car, but indicated that prices will vary depending on the level of performance. The versions with the best performance, the ones that can produce 1000 horsepower, could cost in the millions. The company stops production at 300 samples.
The company hopes to produce the XP-1 somewhere in the Midwest, said Kafantaris. Following the XP-1, the company hopes to create more practical hydrogen-powered cars for a wider range of customers.
The company also hopes to popularize the idea of hydrogen as an energy medium for cars, as well other uses, he said. Hyperion has partnered with NASA to commercialize various hydrogen technologies that the space agency is currently using and to develop new uses, he said.
The space agency confirmed to CNN Business that Hyperion has agreed to license a number of NASA technologies.
“Part of what we aim for is to give a sense of pride to what America has done in the past, through NASA technology, and kind of bring people together for something that everyone can see and say, ‘That’s American, I’m I’m proud of it, “said Kafantaris.
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