Riversimple

Hugo Spowers has been working on hydrogen-powered cars for more than 15 years. Riversimple, his Powys-based company, is gearing up for the biggest test of its Rasa car to date. In 2018, it will begin a beta trial of the hydrogen vehicle.

There are 750 people signed-up for the pilot scheme across the Monmouthshire region, according to Spowers. "We should have the first car running in January," he says. "And we should have the 20 built and in operation by June."


During the trial, which is funded by an European Union grant for 12 months, the cars will be tested on a "broad range of users". This includes members of the public, private sector companies and Monmouthshire council. It's unlikely an individual will have a car for the whole 12-month test, with vehicles being shuffled between testers to get the most feedback.

Riversimple had previously said it would test 20 cars in the UK this year, but missed its self-imposed target.

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Dubbed the Rasa, Riversimple's two-seater car weighs around 580kg. In the tussle between form and function, the end design is the result of compromise. "It is a low car and it is a very low seat," says Spowers, who was amongst the speakers at WIRED Energy. "We want to see how older people will react to it." Part of the trial in Wales will be to see how different drivers adapt to the car. This, Spowers adds, will help it to decide who to market the vehicle at.

The Rasa is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell – which combines gas with water to create electricity – and have a range of around 300 miles. The cars aren't designed to drive 300 miles in one trip but cover that distance over a number of weeks and be used for shorter, local, journeys. The fuel cell has already been used by fork lift trucks.


While electric cars are growing in popularity, Spowers believes that as demand for power grows the automotive industry will need to focus on hydrogen fuel cells to prevent the grid from being overloaded by demand from large batteries. "It's really inconceivable to imagine replacing our thousands of filling stations and millions of cars with batteries. Refuelling a hydrogen car is similar to a petrol car."

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"We're not going against the industry," Spowers says. Elsewhere, Japan is one of hydrogen's biggest proponents. Honda and Toyota both have fuel cell vehicles on the road and the country has even touted the idea of a hydrogen-fuelled Olympic torch for the 2020 Tokyo games. Hydrogen trains have also been tested in Europe and ways of producing hydrogen are being refined in laboratories around the world.

Ahead of the Riversimple trial in 2018, the first carbon fibre chassis has been delivered to its headquarters and the structural design has been completed. The Rasa is being constructed in the UK but is mostly built with components manufactured abroad.

"As soon as we've got these cars built, our design programme forks," Spowers says. "The production version by-and-large will look the same. The surfaces will be changing slightly, we're going to be doing more aerodynamic work."


Riversimple has set itself the ambitious target of bringing its vehicles to market towards the end of 2020. When this happens, it plans to make the cars available on a subscription basis. Similar proposals have been put forward for autonomous vehicles.

"We're probably the only car company that hopes never to sell a car," Spowers says. A customer would sign-up for a fixed price contract of one to three years, which would include use of the car, insurance and fuel. "They don't have to worry about the maintenance or depreciation," he adds. Once the contact expires, the customer gives it back to Riversimple and in theory the firm would be able to hire it out again.

There are a number of challenges for Riversimple before it gets to this stage. It needs to be able to create the infrastructure to refuel vehicles, ensure the technology can be produced cheaply enough for it to make a profit, and produce the vehicles at commercial scale. In 2018, the firm will take its next big step.