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The Riversimple car can go 80km/hr (50mph) and travels 322km (200mi) per re-fuelling, with an efficiency equivalent to 300 miles to the gallon. The cars will be leased with fuel and repair costs included, at an estimated £200 ($315) per month. The company hopes to have the vehicles in production by 2013. Next year, it aims to release 10 prototypes in a UK city which has yet to be confirmed. Riversimple has partnered with gas supply company BOC to install hydrogen stations for the cars in the city where the prototypes are launched. 'Open source' model The car itself is an amalgam of high-efficiency approaches in automotive design. Its four motors are powered by a fuel cell rated at just six kilowatts, in contrast to current designs that are all in excess of 85 kilowatts - required because the acceleration from a standing start requires a great deal of power. Riversimple's solution is to power the car also from so-called "ultracapacitors", which store large amounts of electric charge and, crucially, can release that charge nearly instantly to provide the power needed to accelerate from rest. The ultracapacitors are charged as the vehicle brakes to a halt, converting the energy of the moving car into stored energy. Without a combustion engine, gearbox, or transmission, and with a shell made of carbon fibre composites, it weighs 350kg. The company claims that it is closer to market than any of its start-up competitors, but what sets them apart is an unusual business model. "Riversimple has effectively rethought the whole of what in the business school world we call the 'value chain' of the auto industry," said John Constable, chair of the Riversimple project. Article Continues: BBC
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The manufacturer of a hydrogen car unveiled in London on Tuesday will make its designs available online so the cars can be built and improved locally.
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