Back to the Future! The Top Ten Hydrogen Powered Vehicles

Japanese car maker Honda and the American giant, General Motors, are investing $85 million to mass produce the hi-tech that will power hydrogen cars by 2020.

Honda and GM aren't the only ones exploring the potentiality of hydrogen-powered cars. Many other automakers are seeing a future in them alongside electric powered vehicles.

Already GM has claimed 3.1 million miles of hydrogen fuel cell testing. It has yet to be seen if the hydrogen-powered car takes off but one thing is for sure, they boast longer ranges and shorter re-fill times than their electric vehicles.

Here's a look at a list of the top-ten hydrogen-powered cars in the works (in no particular order):

1. Honda Clarity

The Honda Clarity, which Honda began leasing in California at the end of 2016.

2. Chevy ZH2

General Motors revealed its hydrogen-powered car at the meeting of the Association of the United States Army in October 2016. The US Army will test the car in extreme conditions in 2017 to determine whether it's viable for missions.

3. Toyota Mirai

When it comes to hydrogen powered cars, Toyota has been working on these the longest, having put 23 years into the technology. Toyota has been selling the Toyota Mirai in Japan since December 2014 and also in California in October 2015 — marking the first time hydrogen-powered vehicles were sold in the United States. Toyota plans to sell 30,000 a year worldwide by 2020. The Mirai has a front radar sensor and camera that allows that can detect lane drift and and also has automatic emergency braking.

4. Lexus LF-FC

Lexus has it’s plans for a hydrogen-powered car which they plan to release in 2020 but as of yet we do not know a whole lot about the future specs. The car comes with some high-tech like a display that can be controlled with simple hand gestures. An interesting point to consider is that Toyota is the parent company of Lexus so we can expect some interesting developments here.

5. Audi h-tron

Audi unveiled their concept car, the h-tron quattro at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show. They claim that it can drive 372 miles on hydrogen alone and go from 0 to 62 miles per hour in less than 7.1 seconds. The car also comes with driver assist and lane assist systems.

6. BMW Hydrogen 7

BMW is also working on their own version of the hydrogen car which they hope to roll out in 2020. The range promised for the car will exceed 300 miles with a refuel time of under five minutes.

7. Ford Focus FCV

Ford is to launch the first affordable, mass-market vehicle by 2017. In January 2013, Ford announced it was teaming up with Mercedes-Benz's parent company Daimler and Nissan to accelerate the creation of fuel cell technology. There's no word yet on how the car will perform.

8. Mercedes-Benz F-Cell

Mercedes-Benz will have a plug-in hydrogen car called the GLC F-Cell which they plan to launch sometime this year, 2017. It will have an all-electric range of 30 miles but a collective range of 310 miles on the hydrogen fuel cell with the hydrogen tank being refilled in just three minutes. The fuel cell stack will be created through a joint venture with Ford Motors.

9. Nikola Motor Company Hydrogen Truck

A new startup called the Nikola Motor Company has unveiled its hydrogen-powered truck which is to be released in 2020 with a massive range of between 800 miles and 1,200 miles. The company plans to build an infrastructure of 364 hydrogen stations starting in 2019.

10. Riversimple Rasa

Closer to home and probably the ugliest car of the lot, the Welsh start-up Riversimple is leasing to UK drivers this year, its hydrogen-powered car, the Rasa. The car has a 300-mile range and is super lightweight, coming in just under 1,300 pounds.

Author

Justin Kavanagh
Justin Kavanagh is a recognised leader in automotive intelligence and vehicle data supply to the entire motor industry. He has almost 20 years experience in building systems from the ground up. As the Managing Director of Vehicle Management System, he understands the need and importance of trustworthy and reliable vehicle history and advice to both the trade and the public.
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