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Automotive

Hydrogen cars set to take to the streets in Wales

June 16, 2016
Hydrogen cars set to take to the streets in Wales
For the trial, 20 Riversimple Rasas will be driven on three or six-month contracts
For the trial, 20 Riversimple Rasas will be driven on three or six-month contracts
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For the trial, 20 Riversimple Rasas will be driven on three or six-month contracts
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For the trial, 20 Riversimple Rasas will be driven on three or six-month contracts
The trial is being run in partnership with Monmouthshire County Council in southeast Wales
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The trial is being run in partnership with Monmouthshire County Council in southeast Wales
60-80 Monmouthshire residents will participate in the trial
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60-80 Monmouthshire residents will participate in the trial
Riversimple says the trial is the start of its plans to roll-out hydrogen infrastructure across the UK
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Riversimple says the trial is the start of its plans to roll-out hydrogen infrastructure across the UK
Riversimple plans to install hydrogen refueling stations around which pockets of hydrogen car users can be developed
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Riversimple plans to install hydrogen refueling stations around which pockets of hydrogen car users can be developed
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Riversimple has had a busy year so far, what with the launch of its hydrogen-powered Rasa city car, showing it off at the London Motor Show and unveiling two new concept designs. Now, the Welsh carmaker has announced the first UK trial of its innovative automobiles.

The trial, run in partnership with Monmouthshire County Council in southeast Wales, will be carried out over the course of 12 months. The Rasa itself will be used, with 20 brand-new models to be driven by 60-80 Monmouthshire residents over the course of three or six-month contracts.

The Rasa will not be available to buy when it is launched in 2018, but instead customers will be able to enjoy the car by paying a monthly fee that covers fuel, maintenance, repairs and insurance. This type of plan, says Riversimple, will eliminate built-in vehicle obsolescence and make sustainability a competitive advantage, rather than a cost.

The carmaker believes the Rasa is the most efficient road-going car in the world. It describes the short distance between towns in Monmouthshire as "ideal" for testing the Rasa, which is designed for local non-motorway use and has a range of 300 mi (483 km).

Riversimple plans to install hydrogen refueling stations around which pockets of hydrogen car users can be developed
Riversimple plans to install hydrogen refueling stations around which pockets of hydrogen car users can be developed

Riversimple says the trial is the start of its plans to create hydrogen infrastructure across the UK to help encourage the roll-out of hydrogen vehicles where refueling stations are built. As part of the trial, a self-service, mobile refueling point is planned for the town of Abergavenny or Monmouth. The firm also says it will cover the running costs of the cars during the trial, will offer customer relations to participants, and will also build a temporary "experience center."

The trial is due to begin in early 2017, with the first commercially available Riversimple cars — like the Rasa — expected in 2018, and the development of its concept cars following thereafter. Over the next 20 years it hopes to build a "distributed network of manufacturing plants" that will create jobs and help regenerate communities.

The video below explains Riversimple's unconventional approach to the auto business.

Source: Riversimple


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Rustin Lee Haase
(1) A large capacity high pressure hydrogen storage tank in close proximity to the driver in a very light frame (2) A violent collision with ANYTHING (3) BOOM!!! - (Somewhere between the Hindenburg or Challenger) I'll stick with something safer like a Tesla Model S or even a Nissan LEAF if I want to go green. I'm on my second LEAF lease right now and everything is under warranty. The situation already feels like mobility as a service. Problem already solved. :-)
Gerwalk
Some hydrogen fuel tanks use a metallic honeycomb to keep the gas in the tank. Over 30 years ago at the Toole Army depot they fired armor piercing incendiary bullets at at tank. The flame of the escaping gas quit in less than 2 seconds. The tank must be heated to release the hydrogen.
John_B
We get tired of the opposing industry investors/trolls harping stale old nay say fear propaganda like hydrogen car Hindenburg explosion propaganda or ugly propaganda. Along with a lot of other stale fear propaganda that never panned out like Tesla battery fires. Solar farm shade desert tortoise extinction.... Windfarm bird kill propaganda..Big horn sheep migrating route decimation. They're so adamant and exited to teach us these pitfalls of other technologies they want to push aside.
Then they go and push Nissan Leaf which is an electric car with a gas filler neck. Hybrid cars with gasoline range extenders like Prius are actually a fossil fuel ploy to extend gas station necessity as far into the future as possible. So, the shills who try to pass themselves off as everyday people are only quite obvious.
StWils
Every new technology encounters resistance from tiny little minds of the day. My favourite magazine, Scientific American, has a column extracting comments from readers going back decades. I have read comments from readers decrying the telegraph, telephone, steam trains, airplanes, radio, TV, personal computers, etc. You get the idea. All such comments and the tiny little minds that express them have a common narrow view that is remarkably consistent over the decades and never sees innovation positively. I am sure that in Gutenburgs day some people attacked the idea of printing books in "large" numbers instead of the time honored method of having a room full of scribes carefully crafting each page.