Riversimple‘s hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle prototype is released with a claimed fuel economy comparable to 250 mpg (0.9 l/100km). The ‘Rasa’ automobile has a lightweight carbon-fiber monocoque shell, in-wheel electric motors, a bank of supercapacitors charged by braking-regeneration, while taking a trip approximately a 300 miles (483 km) on just a 3.3 lb (1.5 kg) tank of hydrogen.
A road-legal two-seater electrical vehicle, Riversimple’s ‘Rasa’ is created to fulfill the maker’s stringent lightness, strength, affordability, and safety requirements, while optimizing fuel economy and reducing carbon emissions. Taking the type of a low-slung two-seat hatchback, the electric car has a special exterior style, with a vented hatch at the rear, gull-wing doors, projection headlamps at the front, and fairing covering the rear wheels.
The electric automobile’s interior seems fine-tuned, with a tidy dash design, a pod-style instrument binnacle, in a minimalist, appealing finish. As per the Wales-based company, the car will is, ‘light to manage, responsive, and fun to drive’, with velocity to 89 km/h (55 mph) in roughly nine seconds, striking maximum speed at around 96 km/h (60 mph).
The ‘Rasa’ works by means of hydrogen travelling through a proton exchange membrane in the fuel cell where it integrates with oxygen to form water and electric power. The electricity then streams to small, lightweight motors in each wheel, offering the vehicle four-wheel-drive. When the automobile brakes, the kinetic energy, that is usually lost in the form of heat, is caught as electricity. As the vehicle slows, this electricity floods into a bank of super-capacitors at the front of the automobile. Unlike a battery, these super-capacitors can take a big charge very quickly, however they don’t keep a great deal of energy. The energy they take in is returned to the motors once again and provides the energy to speed up.
Riversimple’s ingenious network design indicates that it only requires a fuel cell huge enough to offer cruising speed power, instead of acceleration. The ‘Rasa’ can get more than 50% of its braking energy back, which is used to increase acceleration. The light-blue model is designed by Chris Reitz, formerly worked as design chief for the Fiat 500, and his group at their studio in Barcelona.
