Press Release
15 Jul 2009 - Cranfield involved in designing unique hydrogen-powered car
A collaboration between leading automotive engineering facilities, including Cranfield University, has seen the development of a unique lightweight hydrogen-powered car – The Riversimple Urban Car.
The brainchild of former-motorsport engineer and Cranfield MBA student, Hugo Spowers, the car has taken 10 years to become a reality.
The two-seater car can reach up to 50 mph and travel 240 miles before the need to refuel. The car uses a hydrogen fuel cell, has an electric motor on each wheel, stores a high proportion of the energy generated when braking in a bank of ultra-capacitors and has a body made of lightweight composites.
The £5 million project has so far been funded by the family of Ernst Piech and grants from the UK-based BOC Foundation and the UK Technology Strategy Board.
The engineering team has involved Cranfield University, Oxford University and Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies.
Cranfield‘s Department of Automotive Engineering created the system which allows the driver to control the car’s movements.
James Marco, Lecturer in Department of Automotive Engineering, said: “We are happy to have been involved. Our software is what pulls all the elements together and moves it from individual parts to a functioning vehicle.”
Former Director of Cranfield’s School of Management, John Constable, is now Chairman of Riversimple.
He said: “Hugo set out to design a sustainable car which would dramatically affect the car industry and the cars that we use during his MBA. His thinking was ahead of its time and showed great initiative and thinking outside the box. It is a remarkable achievement.
“It is an electric car with a lot of electronics and software in it which controls everything going on. Cranfield helped to integrate all the systems together. Cranfield is one of the few universities in the UK that has an automotive department and we chose the University because of the skills and facilities available.”
Hugo’s company Riversimple now has to raise a further £20 million to build ten prototypes by the end of next year, and a further 50 by the end of 2011. It is hoped this money will also fund the designing of a manufacturing factory.
The Riversimple Urban Car will be leased to individuals, companies and car clubs. The long term goal is to eliminate the environmental impact of personal transport and build a hydrogen refueling infrastructure in cities around the country.
Mr Constable added: “It is realistic to expect a commercially viable hydrogen fuel cell car option in the next 5 to 10 years. We realise this car won’t remove the combustion engine car from the market in the short to medium term, but it will provide a wider choice for the public.”
To find out more visit www.riversimple.com
ENDS
Further information
Cranfield University is a wholly postgraduate institution with a worldwide reputation for excellence and expertise in aerospace, automotive, defence, engineering, environment and water, health, management and manufacturing. The University is made up of the following Schools: Cranfield Health, School of Management, School of Applied Sciences, School of Engineering, and Cranfield Defence and Security at Shrivenham. For more information visit www.cranfield.ac.uk
Riversimple is a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) established to design and build electric network cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
For further information please contact: Naomie Stanford-Jones, Press Officer, Cranfield University, tel: +44 (0) 1234 754999
Press Office – Marketing Operations
Building 45
Cranfield University
Cranfield
Bedfordshire MK43 0AL
Tel: +44 (0) 1234 754999
Fax: +44 (0) 1234 758051
Email: pressoffice@cranfield.ac.uk
Website: http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/
Press release number: PR-10-09-SOE
