Cars and Trees

The Riversimple Urban Car will be no more impressive than a Smart, at a first glance. At its size, it will weigh 350kg and will need far less energy than other cars. The project is financed by the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, and the car is set to be unveiled next week.

This car’s figures are impressive: it can travel 200 miles, consuming the equivalent gasoline energy of 300mpg in hydrogen. The most interesting fact is that the power comes from a 6kW hydrogen fuel cell. For a comparison, Honda Clarity, has a 100kW fuel cell onboard – anyway, the size is not to be compared. What’s not so impressive is the maximum speed – 50mph, but considering you’ll use this car to get around your town, 50mph is more than enough.

The car’s body is made from a composite material and has four small electric motors embedded in each wheel, that also act as regenerative brakes.

The cars will be leased over 20 years, with fueling included in the cost, and the materials will be recycled at the end of each year’s lifespan. Hugo Spowers, head of Riversimple, said: “Cars evolved under very different constraints to those of today, so we must move on. The sale of cars still rewards the maximization of resource use – whereas we now accept that we must minimize resource use.” Sebastian Piech, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, along with other members of the Piech family, have backed the project so far.

It’s an interesting idea to lease cars, but this also has a few drawbacks: you won’t own your car, but instead lose money on someone else’s, and you won’t be able to sell it to recover part of your money, like you do with your old Ford, for example. In some situations, still, this is the best method to adopt.