ROMA – The challenge for the zero-emission car of the twenty-first century lights up in the name of performance. The Californian company Hyperion unveils the characteristics of the Hyperion XP-1 hydrogen supercar arriving by 2022 and the maximum speed of over 350 km / h is evident, acceleration from zero to 100 km / h in just over two seconds and an incredible range of over 1,600 kilometers on a single tank of new fuel.
As everyone looks to the next generation of batteries to envision the future of the electric car, then, once again from California – as it was for Tesla – comes a fascinating alternative to say the least. Not much is known about the Hyperion XP-1 hydrogen supercar but if the announced numbers are confirmed, it will not be difficult for the Orange manufacturer to sell the 300 units scheduled for limited production. In addition to speed, acceleration and range, some characteristics of the passenger compartment have been revealed, dominated by a curved screen as large as 98 inches and capable of receiving gesture commands for controlling the main functions. The use of titanium and carbon fiber, according to the data disclosed, allows the curb weight of the car to be kept below 1250 kg.
The traction is strictly four-wheel drive but the on-board energy system, with fuel cells capable of producing electricity to power the electric traction motors directly from hydrogen, emitting only harmless water vapor at the exhaust, nothing has been anticipated.
No wonder, because the big match of the Hyperion is not in the charm and performance of the XP-1 supercar, which would risk passing like a meteor in the automotive firmament in the absence of a spread of hydrogen as fuel. The ambition of the company led by Angelo Kafantaris, founded almost ten years ago by university research doctors and active in energy, cars and aerospace with the divisions Hyperion Energy, Hyperion Motors and Hyperion Aerospace, is to offer the new hydrogen fuel and its affordable technologies across America.
A global challenge, therefore, which has the first highly visible element in the car but looks much further. The technologies developed in the last ten years by Hyperion for the tank, the fuel cells and the refueling system are the elements that will determine the acceleration, or the abrupt braking, of the entire operation.
Hydrogen and batteries are sure to be protagonists of the next energy century. Only the former, however, seem at the moment to be heading towards mass diffusion. Whoever finds a solution for hydrogen too has a guaranteed future.
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