Will this car put an end to the drawbacks of hydrogen technology? † NOW

The start-up NamX and the Italian design studio Pininfarina want to bring a hydrogen car on the market in 2025. They are neither the first nor the only one. Yet it is potentially a special product, because the car uses interchangeable hydrogen cartridges. With this, the companies want to eliminate a number of disadvantages of hydrogen technology. How about that?

Just as was the case with electric cars about ten years ago, there is now also a chicken-and-egg discussion with hydrogen models. Are you going to build hydrogen filling stations first or should the manufacturers provide more cars first? For the time being in the Netherlands, with seven filling points, it is at least a bit difficult in terms of refueling infrastructure.

In addition, refueling with hydrogen is faster than recharging an electric car, but less quickly than topping up with petrol. It is not uncommon for it to take you five minutes to fill up a hydrogen car.

That can be done faster and easier, think NamX and Pininfarina. As far as they are concerned, instead of refueling, you can immediately go to exchange stations. Portable cartridges with hydrogen are available there that you can slide into the back of the car. You don’t save a lot of time with it, by the way. NamX boss Faouzi Annajah expects you to be busy for about four minutes.

Up to 800 kilometers of range

NamX is a new brand that made its first appearance last month with the unveiling of its hydrogen car. For now, the model simply has Hydrogen Utility Vehicle (HUV). In September, the brand will show a more production-ready version of the car.

The first specifications are already known. The French want to bring two versions on the market, one with 300 hp and a four-wheel drive variant with 550 hp. The versions accelerate to 100 kilometers per hour in 6.5 and 4.5 seconds respectively, according to NamX. The brand expects that the car can cover about 800 kilometers with full hydrogen tanks.

Target prices are already there. The entry-level model is expected to cost 65,000 euros and the top model with four-wheel drive around 95,000 euros.