Mindzle

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The Riversimple urban car actually has a very small fuel cell and looks like it is going to be the smallest one to date so far.

Another great thing about this car is that it is actually very small weighing at just a minute 350Kg and is no bigger than the smart car. For a car of its type it is actually quite speedy reaching at around a bout 50mph which is great for the people that live in the city.

Power comes from a 6kw fuel cell, which is tiny compared to the 100kw system powering the Honda Clarity. It uses a composite body to keep the weight down and four electric motors on each wheel, which double as brakes and electricity generators.

There is a bank of ultracapacitors to store this electricity, which in turn provides most of the accelerating power, allowing for a small fuel cell.

One of the really good things about the design to this new car is that once it is all ready it will be made available online for any car manufacturer to take into their own.

The cars themselves will also be leased over 20 years, with fuelling included in the leasing cost, and the materials will be recycled at the end of each car’s lifespan.

The head of Riversimple has always been a strong believer in pushing technology forward and he realises that this is going to be big. Of course we now realise that we much minimize the resource source of selling cars which is what these cars are trying to do.”

“The Riversimple Urban Car represents a major step towards practical 21st century personal transport and towards the fulfilment of my great-grandfather’s ambitions for accessible personal transport but this time combining his other passions: light weight and high efficiency,” said Piech.

The real question to ask is will they be upgrading things like used cars to make them greener? If you have recently gone out and purchased a  Audi TT Roadster then you are not going to be pleased when you cannot upgrade it to make it a bit greener.  New Audi are just one of the brands that needs to be looked into.