The company also hopes to popularize the idea of hydrogen as an energy medium for vehicles, as well as for other uses, he said. Following the XP-1, the company hopes to make more practical hydrogen-fueled cars for a broader range of customers. The company is hoping to manufacture the XP-1 somewhere in the Midwest, Kafantaris said. The company is capping production at 300 examples. The highest-performing versions, ones capable of producing 1,000 horsepower, could cost in the millions. Kafantaris did not detail pricing for the car, but indicated that prices will vary depending on the level of performance. The first production cars are expected to be delivered to customers by the end of next year. Hyperion already has several operational prototype cars, said Kafantaris. The real purpose of the Hyperion XP-1 is to generate interest in hydrogen fuel, the company said. The XP-1 does have a battery that acts as a buffer to store electricity generated by the fuel cell, but it’s much smaller than the battery packs used in electric cars. Hydrogen gas also isn’t subject to wear and degradation as batteries are, especially when fast-charged, said Kafantaris. It only takes three to five minutes to fill the tank on the XP-1 for a 1,000 mile trip, for instance. The main advantage of hydrogen is that pumping a tank full of hydrogen takes much less time than charging a battery. Energy is then released inside the car when the hydrogen combines again with oxygen. That’s usually done by using electricity to split those larger molecules apart. Before it can be used as a fuel, hydrogen has to be broken out of molecules of water, natural gas or other substances. While it is the most plentiful element in the universe, hydrogen doesn’t naturally exist by itself. Colorless and odorless, it has only a single proton at its center with one electron around it. Hydrogen is the first and simplest element on the periodic table. Hydrogen is extremely light which helps the Hyperion XP-1's performance. Public charging stations for electric cars are much more plentiful than hydrogen filling stations A Department of Energy map of publicly accessible hydrogen filling stations shows clusters of dots around major California cities and no dots at all throughout nearly all the rest of the country. Compared to gasoline or electricity, there’s little hydrogen infrastructure in America. The biggest challenge facing hydrogen-powered cars has been fueling them. Other companies haven’t yet created an exciting car that will capture the public’s attention, though, said Kafantaris. Start up truck maker, Nikola, for example, plans to sell hydrogen-powered semis and pickup trucks. Many car companies, including Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and General Motors, have produced hydrogen fuel vehicles for research purposes or for sale in small numbers.īut the technology is starting to gain more support. That, in turn, makes the car more energy efficient so that it can go farther and faster. Also, because hydrogen gas is very light, the overall vehicle weighs much less than one packed with heavy batteries. The XP-1 has much longer range than a battery-powered electric car because compressed hydrogen has much more power per liter than a battery, Hyperion CEO Angelo Kafantaris explained. The Hyperion XP-1's main purpose is to generate interest in hydrogen power, the company's CEO said.
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