JCB accelerated the hydrogen-powered Hydromax to 653.2 km/h, setting a provisional world record for a car with a hydrogen internal combustion engine. Andy Green, the British driver who in 1997 became the first and so far the only person to break the sound barrier on land, was behind the wheel.
Hydromax is neither an electric car nor a fuel-cell vehicle. It has two internal combustion engines modified to run on hydrogen. Together, they produce about 1,600 hp. The car, nearly 10 metres long, looks more like an aerodynamic rocket on wheels than an ordinary vehicle.
What makes the project interesting is that JCB develops hydrogen internal combustion engines for its construction machinery. In effect, the company took technologies intended for excavators, installed two such engines in a record-setting streamliner and tested them at their limits. The idea is to show the potential of hydrogen for heavy equipment, where using very large batteries can be difficult.
