RFT Express

New UK Hydrogen Powered Car

Built by Riverspeed the car is not only revolutionary in its design, giving the equivalent of 300 m.p.g. and built to last 15 to 25 years, Riverspeed have also revolutionised the way you acquire the car, and the way it is built.

This car is the start of the future:  The car itself has five novel features – a composite body, weighing 350 kgs, four electric motors, no gearbox or transmission, regenerative braking and power provided by hydrogen fuel cells.

Cars will not be sold outright. Customers will buy mobility as a service, not a car as a product. It is in everyone's interest to keep cars on the road as long as possible. Riversimple will be the first car manufacturer not wanting you to buy a new one every three years.

The expected cost will be £200 to £250 per month plus 15p per mile . For a yearly mileage of 5,000 miles the cost would be approximately £3,150 or a net cost of 63 pence per mile, which ‘if you are buying a mobility service’,  is expected will include road fund licence, insurance and maintenance.

Riverspeed will be running two pilots in medium sized UK cities with 30 cars in each. This will include recruitment and training of customer service and vehicle maintenance staff. A memorandum of understanding was signed with Leicester City Council, the first city to sign up.

Due to be launched in 2013, these cars will be manufactured in smaller factories producing around 5,000 vehicles per factory each year. They will be produced on a city by city basis across the UK, with Leicester expecting to be the first. It is hoped that the car will go Global, with other manufacturers producing it under licence

How will it fair against the Nissan Leaf 5 door available later this year ?  The Nissan is a bigger car with a range of only 100 miles. Priced at £23,350 it needs a longer range to be competitive.

Newcastle has indicated it will provide free electric hook up points in city centre car parks. Local supermarkets may be encouraged to do the same.

  The first Electric powered London Taxi went into service this week. With a range of 250 miles, it will be a viable alternative to the standard London taxi. Already in service in London are large capacity electric powered vans.

As technology improves over the next few years we could see less and less fossil fuelled cars on the roads.

Vic Farron   RFT Express.

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