- The JCB Hydromax has set a new FIA world land speed record.
- Over the course of two runs, the model averaged 406.320 mph.
- 1,600 hp car was driven by Andy Green, who is the fastest man on earth.
Days after hitting 368.347 mph (592.797 km/h), the JCB Hydromax has set a new FIA world land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Early this morning, the hydrogen-powered model achieved an average speed of 400.623 mph (644.740 km/h) in its first run. The car then turned around and headed the opposite direction, where it averaged an insane 412.135 mph (663.267 km/h).
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This gave the JCB Hydromax a record-breaking average speed of 406.320 mph (653.909 km/h). That blew past the previous hydrogen record of 185.5 mph (298.5 km/h) as well as the world diesel land speed record of 350.092 mph (563.418 km/h). The latter was set in August 2006 by the JCB Dieselmax.
Despite 20 years between the events, Wing Commander Andy Green drove both the Hydromax and Dieselmax to their records. He said, “The car was terrific – stable, strong and fast. Setting a world land speed record with hydrogen power, twenty years after Dieselmax, is a huge privilege.” Green added, “This record is a huge achievement by a world class team and superb technology.”
Green is no stranger to records as the retired RAF pilot is the fastest man on earth. He hit 763.035 mph (1,227.986 km/h) in the ThrustSSC and became the only person to break the sound barrier on land.
Getting back to the JCB Hydromax, the 32-foot (9.75-meter) long car was powered by two of JCB’s “production-based” hydrogen digger engines. They produce a combined 1,600 hp (1,193 kW / 1,622 PS) and the company said they’re the “same engines now powering JCB machines and equipment rolling off production lines in the UK.”
That’s the whole point as JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford explained, “Twenty years ago we came to Bonneville with JCB Dieselmax and showed what British engineering could do with diesel power. Today we have done it again – this time with engines powered by hydrogen.” He added that the Hydromax “shows hydrogen works, and it works today at the highest level with zero emissions.”
