Hydrogen-powered racing car gathers speed.
Plans for hydrogen powered motoring have been around since way back. In the late 1970’s to late 1980’s a so called Australian inventor Stephen Horvath was soliciting a lot of funds for a hydrogen powered car that never eventuated , my guess is he just took the money and retired quietly. However the demand for alternative fuels, and greed of oil companies, has created demand again for a real alternative to oil based fuels.
November 06, 2008 12:00am
THE F1 cars of the future are mean, green machines. Australia’s first hydrogen-powered racing car, designed and built by Melbourne and German university students, will tear up the track but be gentle on the environment.
The students this week fine-tuned the converted motorcycle engine, which emits only water vapour, on the eve of yesterday’s great unveiling at Federation Square.
The prototype car will attempt to set a Guinness World Record for speed by a single-seat hydrogen vehicle in Germany next year.
The project, dubbed Formula H, is a joint effort between RMIT University and Germany’s Fachhochschule Ingolstadt University.
Engineers expect the cutting-edge racer is capable of travelling 170km/h.
RMIT aerospace, mechanical and manufacturing engineering head Professor Aleksandar Subic said the future would be fast cars that run on clean, sustainable fuel.
Hydrogen is being seen as a realistic option to one day replace petrol, diesel and natural gas as vehicle fuel.
The car will be show-cased as part of the first International Conference on Sustainable Automotive Technologies, which runs until tomorrow
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