California-based tech company Hyperion has unveiled the Hyperion XP-1, a hybrid of hydrogen fuel-powered hypercar with an advertised range of 1,000 miles and a top speed of 221 mph. It can start from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.2 seconds.
Those are undoubtedly some impressive specs – but their main purpose is not to take Tesla in a head-to-head. It is to generate interest in hydrogen power, according to the company.
“There are enough car companies,” said CEO Angelo Kafantaris Car and driver. “We’re an energy company building this car to tell a story.”
Instead of relying on extremely heavy lithium-ion battery packs, the XP-1 generates power from large tanks of hydrogen that drives two powerful electric motors. Lower curb weight, more power and longer range.
Except for the way it is currently generated – about 95 percent of all hydrogen is produced from steam reforming natural gas – hydrogen is extremely environmentally friendly to use as a fuel source. The by-products are literally just water and not greenhouse gases.
Fortunately, there are many ways to generate hydrogen as a fuel source. “You can make hydrogen from too much solar energy,” Kafantaris claims. “Making hydrogen is greener than making batteries.”
Unfortunately, refueling with hydrogen cars in 2020 is extremely difficult to do. In 2018, there were only 39 publicly available hydrogen stations for fuel cell refueling in the United States.
Hyperion wants to change that. The company claims it has plans to build its own hydrogen tank network similar to Tesla’s Supercharger network.
The XP-1 will be expensive. Production will begin in 2022 and only 300 of them will ever be made.
READ MORE: The Hyperion XP-1 hypercar wants to give hydrogen a halo effect [Ars Technica]
More about hydrogen cars: A brief history of Elon Musk’s party with rival automaker Nikola
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