Small Hydrogen City Car Will be Open Source

A new concept for a hydrogen city car is being unveiled next week in England, and you can help to finish the design. The car has been designed up to this point by Oxford and Cranfield University professors and students, but now Riversimple is planning to manufacture the car and they're leaving the project open source, making the design available online.

The car will be about the same size as the smart fortwo, weigh 770 pounds, reach speeds of 50 mph and have a range of at least 200 miles. The hydrogen fuel cell will only be 6kW and there will be electric motors in each wheel. A bank of ultracapacitors will take the place of a battery.

Another interesting part of the concept is that Riversimple plans to lease the car for a period of 20 years, with the cost including the price of fuel. While we love the idea of the same car being used for 20 years, it's hard to imagine that many consumers would want to commit to that long of a lease. But the idea of the price including fuel may be a great idea.

The company is working on ten prototypes at the moment, but hopes to pair up with a city in the near future to launch the car and the necessary hydrogen infrastructure at the same time.

via Autoblog Green

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jordan shoes, Low-rated comment [Show]

Hummm!
written by Steve, June 24, 2009

Interesting- but in America....I doubt it. The safety precautions alone would double the weight. Take a look at the Riversimple website link in the article. I applaud their science and initative...perhaps in a post Hummer world the average citizen will accept the concept. Let's hope so!