Hyrban
The Hyrban is an open source hydrogen fuel cell city car being
developed by Riversimple and the community at large. The idea
behind the Hyrban is that by making it Open Source the community
will come up with the ideas from a larger pool of engineers than
the closed loop and proprietary system of the major automakers.
The Hyrban is a two-seat city vehicle that uses a fuel
cell for propulsion and compressed hydrogen gas. The top
speed of the vehicle is around 50 mph. The vehicle also
has a range of between 240 and 300 miles at this present
time.
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The city of Leicester, UK will be receiving 30 Hyrbans in 2012
for testing purposes around the city. If all goes well, then Leicester
may be the site of producing up to 5,000 Hyrbans. And additional
5,000 Hyrban cars may be produced in another yet unnamed UK city.
Right now the plan is for limited production of the vehicles
before 2015 to gauge customer acceptance. To do so the Hyrban
will be leased for between $300 and $350 per month USD, plus 22
to 25 cents per mile plus the cost of hydrogen fuel.
A foundation called 40Fires
is hosting the open source discussion and part of the development
of the Hyrban. Some of the engineering plans are posted online.
There is also a message board than one can join to contribute
ideas and to see what is developing with the Riversimple urban
car.
Some have theorized that the Hyrban along with fueling station
in Leicester will be part of the overall UK Hydrogen Highway system,
which is now really two systems being built including one in Wales
and one in Scotland. But, since Leicester is could be used as
a connecting route between north and south it makes sense of be
piloting the Hyrban in a city than may be part of the UK Hydrogen
Highway system.
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The body of the Hyrban is made of lightweight
carbon composite material. This cuts down on the weight
of the vehicle and helps to increase speed and range as
well.
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Former motor sports engineer and race driver Hugo Spowers, also
of the United Kingdom is underwriting this Riversimple
project, though he is also currently looking for investors to
take the Hyrban to the next level towards commercialization.
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