Riversimple hydrogen fuel cell car to be re-launched

A new and improved version of the Riversimple hydrogen fuel cell urban car will mark a radical evolution from the ground-breaking technology demonstrator the company unveiled in 2009.

The new vehicle will share none of the components used in its predecessor, but will once again forsake a conventional engine in favour of a fuel cell stack, a device that uses an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity to power a motor.

These so-called fuel cell vehicles can travel longer distances than electric vehicles that need to be re-charged directly from a mains supply. The Riversimple Urban Car has a a top speed of 50mph and a 240-mile range.

Riversimple founder Hugo Spowers plans to transform the way we use our cars by replacing outright ownership with a system similar to a mobile phone contract. In this short film he talks about his plans for the new car.

How is the Riversimple different?

Riversimple is not the first company to offer a hydrogen car – Honda has already started production of the FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell about 70 which will be built each year – but its approach to car making is radically different to any other manufacturer. Their designs are ‘open source’ which means they are freely available to other car makers who would like to exploit the technology. The designers hope to encourage an environmentally-sustainable alternative to conventional car manufacturing, where cars are bought, driven into the ground and junked.