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What just happened? JCB's hydrogen-powered land-speed vehicle reached 406.320 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, setting a new speed record for a hydrogen-fueled internal-combustion vehicle. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile confirmed the record after driver Andy Green completed the run Tuesday. The 406.320 mph result surpassed the previous record of 185.5 mph, set by BMW's H2R in 2004.
Green drove JCB's Hydromax, a specially built vehicle designed to test hydrogen combustion at extreme speeds. The British equipment manufacturer is developing hydrogen engines for its construction and agricultural machinery, and the record run was intended to demonstrate what the technology can do under demanding conditions.
"The ground comes at you very, very quickly," Green told The New York Times. "You're driving five or six times as fast as on the interstate. Everything happens very quickly."
