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A tiny Welsh start-up firm is taking on the giants of the industry with the unveiling of its hydrogen fuel cell car.

Riversimple Movement, based in Llandrindod Wells, Powys, has spent 15 years working on the kooky carbon-fibre Rasa - and now they have a street legal prototype that is ready for a public trial.

Company founder Hugo Spowers said the vehicle was “simple, light and fun in every respect” and said he was not nervous about launching the car.

“I think I have been at it for too long to be nervous,” he said.

“The first car we did was a sports car with Morgan called the LIFEcar, which we showed in Geneva in 2008.

“We’re all feeling rather full of beans at the moment. A lot of things are falling into place.

“The fact other people are doing hydrogen cars is good news for us.”

Toyota launched the £66,000 Mirai at the end of 2014.

How it works

Hydrogen is stored under pressure in a tank in the boot

It enters a chamber where it undergoes a 'catalytic reaction' with oxygen

This reaction, a type of 'reverse electrolysis', generates electricity and water

While the electricity drives motors in each wheel, the water evaporates

The wheel motors recover 50% of energy when braking, which is stored in a super capacitor under the bonnet

'No ownership'

The first hand-built models of the Rasa will each cost £100,000 to build.

But the two-seat Rasa, which takes its name from the Latin tabula rasa, meaning ‘blank slate’ will not be for sale.

Instead drivers will sign a mobile phone style contract to lease a car, of around £500 a month.

Video: See a demonstration of Riversimple's hydrogen car

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Factfile

Weight: 0.6 tons thanks to a carbon fibre shell

Top speed: 60mph

Acceleration: 0-60mph in 10 seconds

Range: 300 miles

Gears: Forward and reverse only

Boot volume: Six cubic feet

Length: 12 foot

Mr Spowers said “we’ve not decided on figures” but the price would be similar to that of a bottom-of-the-range Golf diesel. A trial of 20 cars will take place.

“It will be a proper trial with people paying the price we would expect,” Mr Spowers said.

The company will cover all repair, maintenance, insurance and fuel expenses.

“Customers will never actually buy the car and experience the burden of depreciation,” a spokesman said.

“They will simply exchange or return it at the end of the ownership period.”

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Styled by Chris Reitz

The Rasa has been created by a team from the worlds of carmaking, Formula One and aerospace engineering.

It was styled by Chris Reitz – the man behind the Fiat 500 – and weighs 580kg. That is half that of a normal small car.

“Jeremy Clarkson is very keen on hydrogen and wrote about us briefly, once, and he said this is the future, but I have never talked to him about it,” Mr Spowers said.

“It might not be fast enough for him. Having said that he likes a fun car, and it is a fun car to drive.

“We’re not focusing on the eco-market. We want people to want it because they like it.”

Early adopters have few places to fill up.

The UK has just 14 hydrogen fuel stations and not all of them are accessible to the public. The government is funding 12 more.

“This is the principal reason we are building the car for local use,” Mr Spowers said.

“There are a lot of people that buy cars for local use.”

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Riversimple intends to make its technology open-source to encourage the market.

Environmental benefits

“More than 50% of the kinetic energy produced under braking is recovered and turned into electricity to boost acceleration via a bank of super-capacitors,” a spokesman said.

“The result is a range of up to 300 miles on 1.5kg of hydrogen, estimated fuel economy equivalent to 250mpg, and a top speed of 60mph.

“At around 40gCO2/km, the Riversimple car has the lowest carbon emissions for any vehicle.”

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Water is the only output. Its trial is expected to start this year.

“That is part of the continued development of the first full production model which will come to market in 2018,” the spokesman said.

“It will be offered to individuals in a strategically planned phased roll-out by region in order to support a low risk, commercially practical introduction of profitable hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.”

Mr Spowers sad the car was a “key milestone.”

“We really have started from a clean sheet of paper,” he said.

“The Rasa gives us the opportunity to introduce customers to a more convenient concept of motoring, a lightness of ownership that neither places a burden on the pockets of motorists or the surrounding environment.

“The car is simple, light and fun in every respect.”