Clean-Powered Car Smashes Record at Bonneville Salt Flats

A British driver who was the first person to break the sound barrier in a car on land has set a new speed record, this time in a hydrogen-powered vehicle.

The JCB Hydromax | Credit: JCB

Hydrogen-powered cars emit zero CO2 from their tailpipes - only water vapor - and Andy Green, a 64-year-old retired Royal Air Force pilot, just reached a speed of 406mph (654km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It is the fastest a hydrogen-powered car has ever travelled. The new record surpassed the previous official hydrogen combustion title set in 2004 (185.5mph) by more than double the speed.

Driving the highly engineered specialty race car called the Hydromax, which was designed by the construction equipment firm JCB, Green made two attempts. In the first, he recorded an average speed of 400.623 miles per hour. And in the second, he hit 412.135 mph. Between the two, his average top seed was 406.320 mph.

Green is best known for holding the current overall land speed record, having hit 763.035 miles per hour while driving a race car powered by jet engines in 1997. That’s not only a record that’s stood for almost 30 years but also the only time a human being has gone faster than sound in a land-based craft.

"Setting a world land speed record with hydrogen power, 20 years after Dieselmax, is a huge privilege. This record is a huge achievement by a world class team and superb technology," Green said.

Last month, Green said his wife's encouragement was crucial in persuading him to accept the challenge after getting a call from JCB chairman Lord Anthony Bamford. Lord Anthony said: "Twenty years ago we came to Bonneville with JCB Dieselmax and showed what British engineering could do with diesel power. Today we have done it again - this time with engines powered by hydrogen."