Andy Green with the JCB Hydromax car during testingBritish engineering giant
JCB's bid to set a world hydrogen land speed record is surging ahead - with the car now built and testing under way.
The company announced its aim to set the record with the unveiling of the JCB Hydromax car - powered by two JCB hydrogen digger engines - at its World HQ in Staffordshire on May 12th.
Now more than a month later, the building of the car is complete and full testing is under way at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, England where it reached a speed of 177mph on 17 June driven by Wing Commander Andy Green OBE, currently the holder of the land speed record after breaking the sound barrier in ThrustSSC. In a further test Hydromax achieved a recorded speed of 208mph.
Next month the car will be flown to Bonneville, Utah, USA in preparation for its record bids on the Salt Flats – including an attempt to set a Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) world hydrogen land speed record. The FIA is the global governing body for motor sport and the federation for mobility organisations worldwide.
JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford has spearheaded JCB’s £100 million investment to develop hydrogen powered internal combustion engines. JCB diggers powered by the technology are now rolling off production lines.
Lord Bamford said: “Twelve months ago this car was a set of drawings being discussed by a room full of engineers. Today it is a reality and on wheels, running, and being tested in the UK. The team has done a wonderful job to get us to this point. Our focus now turns to the real challenge: setting a world hydrogen land speed record in Bonneville.”
JCB Engineering Director Ryan Ballard, added: “More than 150,000 hours of work has got us to this point; the next phase is where we find out what the car actually does, not what we think it will do. Every run, every refuel and every tyre change we complete in the UK is one our team won’t be doing for the first time on the Salt Flats. Our goal is simple: to arrive at Bonneville fully prepared, with a car and a crew that know exactly what they are doing.”
JCB aims to beat the 350 mph JCB Dieselmax record with the JCB Hydromax – a car which is lighter, more powerful and faster that its 2006 predecessor. JCB’s record attempt comes ahead of the opening of the company’s new $500 million, 400-acre factory in San Antonio, Texas, which will employ 1,500 people manufacturing machines for the US market.
JCB has a long history of pushing the limits of speed. In 2019, the JCB Fastrac tractor was crowned the world’s fastest tractor at 135.191mph, and in 2014 the JCB GT set the world record for the fastest backhoe loader at 72.58mph.