Open source hydrogen car maker, Riversimple is now designing its vehicle with the help cloud computing. The software of choice is Cadonix, a state-of-the-art cloud-based CAD app for the automotive industry.
According to Electronics Weekly, “The firm is developing a two-seater local network electric car, powered by hydrogen fuel cells and with a body made from composite materials.
“R&D is led out of Wales by an engineering team drawn from top automotive, aerospace and motor racing; design is led by Chris Reitz, former design chief for the Fiat 500, with his team at their studio in Barcelona. The team is aiming for fuel efficiency of more than 200mpg, a range of 300 miles, 0-30mph in 5.5 seconds, and a cruising speed of 55 mph.”
The Riversimple car (pictured at top) is scheduled to be released for lease next year. The lease will include maintenance, insurance and fuel with the monthly cost of an average car.
Sounds like a decent fuel cell car, but why is it capped at 55 miles per hour??? The technology to go over 100 mph in a fuel cell car that can go 300+ miles on a single fill seems to exist already. I don’t think a car that can do say 80 mph using a fuel cell costs that much more to make, even though the fuel cell stack may have to produce more electricity.
There was a fascinating OPB program on the first hydrogen balloon a few nights ago by the way.
Hi Michael, thanks for the comment. The Riversimple is a two-seater urban/city car meant to be driven inside of large cities, so the top speed isn’t really an issue in this type of vehicle. Thanks for the tip on the first hydrogen balloon. I didn’t realize the first one was launched way back in 1783!