A hydrogen-powered car has reached a record speed of 654 kilometres per hour at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. British driver Andy Green drove the specially designed Hydromax car across the huge, flat area of salt. The run set a new record for the fastest speed ever achieved by a hydrogen-powered car.
The Bonneville Salt Flats are famous for speed records because the surface is wide, flat and open. This gives drivers plenty of room to build up speed and then slow down safely. Green is already famous for speed records after driving the jet-powered ThrustSSC at 1,228 kilometres per hour in 1997.
That earlier achievement made Green the first person to break the sound barrier on land. The Hydromax did not travel fast enough to break the sound barrier, but its long, low and pointed shape helped it move through the air more easily. Special fins and its heavy design also helped keep the car firmly on the ground.
Hydrogen is being explored as an alternative fuel for some vehicles. When it is used as a fuel, it can produce fewer harmful emissions than petrol and diesel. However, hydrogen is still difficult and expensive to make, store and supply, so it is not yet a simple replacement for ordinary car fuels.
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