I was just posting a column on LinkedIn. One of the problems LinkedIn shares with other social media (and similar) sites like Twitter (I refuse to call it ‘X’) and YouTube is that you are constantly bedazzled and beguiled with tempting tidbits of trivia that make you want to learn more.
Thus it was that a post on something called the Hyperion XP-1 Hydrogen/Electric Hypercar caught my eye. I tracked down a related video on YouTube.
This bodacious beauty is the creation of a company called Hyperion. What we see here is a concept car, so it’s not for sale, but if it was, we’d be looking at millions of dollars.
Although the XP-1 is out of reach for us mere mortals, it may well be a tempting teaser of what’s to come. It runs on hydrogen. You can drive for over 1,000 miles on a single charge, and you can recharge it in 3 to 5 minutes (assuming you can find a recharging station).
Horsepower = 2,038, 0 to 60 mph (~100 km/h) = 2.25 seconds, top speed = 221 mph (~356 km/h), exhaust fumes = H20 (water vapor)… what’s not to love?
I’m not usually bothered about cars, but I can certainly envisage myself in an XP-1. How about you? Do you have any thoughts you’d care to share?
Very flash. But dont try driving it on our bumpy Australian roads. and avoid any speed humps. And I don’t think you’d get more than a couple hundred yards on the potholed roads of Zimbabwe.
That said, Hydrogen does in many ways seem like the way to go. refuelling in a similar time to petrol vehicles with none of the pollution. It’d dangerous stuff to store and transport (remember the Hindenburg) but there are ways round that. One hears of queues at battery recharging points with only 10% or so of cars being EVs… that’s not going to get better.
As a proof of concept of Hydrogen vehicles, this is great!
I really do think hydrogen is a good way to go — none of the dangerous chemicals and elements in batteries — plus no battery recycling issues — the only problem is coming up with the energy needed to split water into H2 and O using renewable energy sources.