JCB sets world hydrogen land speed record using construction equipment engines
On the morning of August 11, on the barren Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, engines developed for construction equipment were put to a rare test — a speed record. Two JCB hydrogen combustion engines powering the 32-foot JCB Hydromax car produced a combined 1,600 bhp (brake horsepower) to set an astonishing world hydrogen land speed record of 406.320 mph on the Bonneville Speedway. Piloted by Wing Commander Andy Green OBE, the Hydromax speed record of 406.320 mph is substantially faster than Green's own JCB Dieselmax world diesel land speed record of 350.092 mph that was set on the same track in 2006. The record was validated by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile), the governing body for world motor sport. The previous hydrogen internal combustion record was 185.5 mph, set by the BMW H2R in 2004, and the previous hydrogen fuel cell land speed record was 303 mph. JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford was in Bonneville to witness the record. "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. This record was set by production-based engines, the same engines powering JCB diggers right now," said Lord Bamford. "That is the point of JCB Hydromax: it shows hydrogen works, and it works today at the highest level with zero emissions."
machineryasia 
On the morning of August 11, on the barren Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, engines developed for construction equipment were put to a rare test — a speed record. Two JCB hydrogen combustion engines powering the 32-foot JCB Hydromax car produced a combined 1,600 bhp (brake horsepower) to set an astonishing world hydrogen land speed record of 406.320 mph on the Bonneville Speedway.
Piloted by Wing Commander Andy Green OBE, the Hydromax speed record of 406.320 mph is substantially faster than Green's own JCB Dieselmax world diesel land speed record of 350.092 mph that was set on the same track in 2006. The record was validated by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile), the governing body for world motor sport. The previous hydrogen internal combustion record was 185.5 mph, set by the BMW H2R in 2004, and the previous hydrogen fuel cell land speed record was 303 mph.
JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford was in Bonneville to witness the record.
"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. This record was set by production-based engines, the same engines powering JCB diggers right now," said Lord Bamford. "That is the point of JCB Hydromax: it shows hydrogen works, and it works today at the highest level with zero emissions."
