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A British firm called Riversimple thinks this oddball hydrogen powered car could be the future of driving.
Called the Riversimple Rasa, the lightweight, unique two-seater has a range of 300 miles on 1.5 kg of hydrogen, which means its only exhaust is water. The firm also says the car gets the equivalent of 250 mpg. It also has supercar-like butterfly doors!
A carbon composite chassis allows the car to weigh just 1,279 pounds, and it has just 18 moving parts in the whole powertrain. The car is powered by a small 8.3 kW hydrogen fuel cell that makes power equivalent to 11 horsepower. There is a motor on each wheel, and more than 50 percent of the kinetic energy produced by braking is recovered and turned into electricity to boost acceleration. Top speed is rated at 60 mph.
ALSO SEE: Secret New Hydrogen Car Being Developed in the UK Apparently Gets 250 MPG
The car will be undergoing a 12-month public beta test, and 20 vehicles will be produced for now. If the beta test is a success, a full production model is expected to be available on the market starting in 2018. The company will use a “sale of service” model that works similar to a lease, where buyers will pay a fixed monthly fee and adhere to a mileage allowance while the company will cover all maintenance, fuel, repairs, and insurance costs.
The company will also take an “open source” approach and make its research available for other companies.
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