While most of the car makers have inclined to make electric cars, at then luxury car maker Aston Martin came up with a new car, Rapide S, which swaps fossil fuels for hydrogen power. Be noted, Rapide S is the first hydrogen-powered racing car.
The Rapide S is an uncompromised sculpture. When it entered production back in 2010, at then Aston Martin claimed that this car would gain 0 to 60 mph speed just in 5-second. However, the racing car comes with a traditional torque converter ZF six-speed automatic. It’s perfectly adequate, but it can be caught out at times and isn’t the fastest shifting gearbox on the market. The car has Aston’s fourth-generation “AM11” V-12 engine which can make good power.
The Rapide S carries four carbon-fiber tanks -two over the rear axle and two where the passenger seat would be – that hold 7.7 pounds (3.5 kg) of hydrogen and can run on hydrogen, gasoline or a mixture of both at lower pressure. The driver is able to select between running on pure hydrogen, pure petrol or a blend of both.
However, few months ago the car completed the Nürburging circuit (Nordschleife and grand prix circuit combined). For more than 11 laps (which is around 182 miles), the car didn’t burn a drop of gas, rather it consumed 59 pounds of hydrogen. Be noted, Hydrogen’s power density is about 30 to 40 percent less than that of gasoline. As a result, the car can bump out around 500 horsepower in hydrogen mode.
The Rapide S race car is essentially a road-going version with a stripped-out interior, stiffened suspension and an added roll cage. There’s no doubt that the idea of the car is as a credible alternative to a battery hybrid vehicle. You can travel at start-up, in the city, and in traffic on hydrogen, and get all the benefits of petrol performance out of the city.
Gallery:
Source: Rapide S
Thanks To: Auto Car
[ttjad keyword=”auto”]
