British hydrogen car unveiled - Introduction

A British company has unveiled what it says is the most 'commercially viable' fuel cell car yet.

The Riversimple Urban will be available for lease from as early as 2012, with full-scale production expected to kick off a year later.

What's more, it should be relatively affordable, with a leasing charge of around £200 per month. On top of that, early adopters will have to pay around 15p per mile to cover all other variable costs – including the hydrogen fuel.

Performance isn't bad, either; the Riversimple will accelerate to 50mph quicker than a Smart Fortwo.

The man behind the project is former motorsport engineer Hugo Spowers, and he has high hopes for the car company.

He said: 'We want to have a pilot of 50 vehicles running in one city within three years – both Oxford and Peterborough are distinct possibilities.

'By 2013 we want a production plant up and running that's capable of manufacturing 5000 vehicles per annum.'

How green is it?
Initially the hydrogen needed to run the Riversimple will be sourced from natural gas, so the 'well-to-wheel' carbon dioxide emissions work out to 31g/km. To put that into context, a Ford Fiesta 1.25 petrol pumps out four times as much C02, and even tiny electric cars such as the G-Wiz still work out only half as green.

As for tailpipe emissions, all that comes out of the fuel cells are a few drips of water. Take a trip from London to Edinburgh and you'd just about fill a wine bottle.

The hope is that, eventually, the hydrogen will by sourced from renewable energy sources. If that happens, fuel cell cars will effectively produce no harmful emissions – once manufactured.