Riversimple, the company behind the Rasa hydrogen fuel cell car, says it is developing a new supercar to draw attention to the ‘crisis of vehicle weight’.
No zero-emission car with a 400-mile range is available at much less than 2,000kg. But Riversimple plans to produce a limited run of zero emission supercars with a range in excess of 400 miles, weighing in at just 620kg.
The company says new cars today are 25% heavier than they were seven years ago. And this weight has a range of unintended consequences, none of them positive, such as increased resource consumption and increased injuries from accidents.
The Riversimple supercar’s design is the subject of a competition for postgraduate students on Coventry University’s Automotive and Transport Design course and is their core individual project in the autumn term. Riversimple may use the successful exterior and interior design proposals from the competition.
The collaboration between Riversimple and Coventry University will be covered by Autocar and the competition judging panel will include the head of design at VW, Andreas Mindt, who kickstarted his career with a student-industry competition.
Riversimple says the supercar will push the limits of range, efficiency and ‘lightweighting’, using advanced carbon composite materials, inboard motors and brakes, lightweight fuel cell technology and supercapacitors. It will accelerate from 0-60mph in 3.5s, 0-100mph in 6.4s and have a 410-mile range, with a hydrogen fuel cell of only 29kW, or 39bhp, but a top speed of 100mph. And at just 620kg, it will be at least 1,000kg less than the battery electric Lotus Evija.
Hugo Spowers MBE, Riversimple’s founder and chief engineer, said: “This car is an antidote to excess and power for the sake of it, and is an opportunity to redefine sports cars for the 21st century.
“We want the look to embody an elegant and sophisticated simplicity but unquestionably modern – as befits a cutting-edge vehicle with radically different engineering.
“These supercars will be immense fun to drive and demonstrate exceptional vehicle dynamics, range, refuel time, light weight and, with Coventry University students’ help, style.”
