JCB HydromaxJCBBritish engineering giant JCB has set a new world land speed record of 406.320 mph with its hydrogen-powered JCB Hydromax, making it the fastest hydrogen-powered vehicle ever built.The car recorded an average speed of 400.623 mph on its first run across Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats this morning, followed by 412.135 mph on its second. The two runs produced an overall average of 406.320 mph — the fastest speed ever achieved by a vehicle powered by a hydrogen internal combustion engine.Driven by Wing Commander Andy Green OBE, the twin-engine, 32-foot-long Hydromax completed the two runs required under FIA rules, traveling in opposite directions within one hour. Its average speed comfortably eclipsed the previous FIA-officiated hydrogen internal combustion record of 185.5 mph, set by BMW's H2R in 2004.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe record remains subject to official ratification by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the global governing body for motorsport.Hydromax also surpassed JCB's own 350.092-mph world diesel land speed record, set by Green behind the wheel of JCB Dieselmax at Bonneville in August 2006. Twenty years later, JCB has beaten its own benchmark with an engine that produces no CO₂ at the tailpipe.The 406.320-mph run also eclipses the 303-mph record for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, making Hydromax the fastest hydrogen-powered vehicle of any kind in history.The record was set in Category A, Group XIV, Class 7 of the FIA World Flying Record Start Land Speed Record regulations. Hydromax is powered by two of JCB's production-based hydrogen combustion engines, producing a combined 1,600 horsepower. The engines are manufactured at JCB's facility in Foston, Derbyshire, England, and are the same basic units now being used in JCB construction equipment produced in the UK.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe project forms part of JCB's $130 million hydrogen program.JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford, who has led the company's hydrogen engine project, came up with the idea for a hydrogen-powered land speed record attempt early last year."Twenty years ago we came to Bonneville with JCB Dieselmax and showed what British engineering could do with diesel power," Bamford said. "Today we have done it again — this time with engines powered by hydrogen. This record was set by production-based engines, the same engines powering JCB diggers right now. That is the point of JCB Hydromax: It shows hydrogen works, and it works today at the highest level with zero emissions."Green, who also drove Dieselmax to its diesel record in 2006, said Bonneville was the appropriate setting for Hydromax's achievement.Andy Green sets new record"Bonneville is the spiritual home of the world land speed record, and JCB Hydromax has just written itself into that history," Green said. "The car was terrific — stable, strong and fast. Setting a world land speed record with hydrogen power, 20 years after Dieselmax, is a huge privilege. This record is a huge achievement by a world-class team and superb technology."AdvertisementAdvertisementJCB Engineering Director Ryan Ballard, who is leading the Hydromax project, credited the company's engineering team."This record belongs to the engineering team which took a hydrogen digger engine and made it the fastest of its kind on earth," Ballard said. "This has been an amazing challenge from the outset of the project being set in February last year. We came here fully prepared, and the car delivered."FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem described the achievement as a milestone for both motorsport and hydrogen technology."This is a truly historic milestone for motorsport, showcasing how innovation, performance, speed, and sustainability can go hand in hand," Ben Sulayem said.AdvertisementAdvertisement"Motorsport has always been a catalyst for technological progress, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. This new land speed record continues this tradition, showcasing the potential of hydrogen combustion for the future of sustainable mobility."Ben Sulayem also thanked the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, an FIA member club, for supporting the record attempt.Green remains the fastest man on Earth, having reached 763.035 mph in the ThrustSSC in 1997. He is the only person to have broken the sound barrier on land and remains the driver of the FIA world diesel land speed record set by JCB Dieselmax at Bonneville in 2006. That record still stands.Hydromax had already passed another major milestone last week, breaking through the 368-mph barrier during the Southern California Timing Association's Bonneville Speed Week. The car set a new SCTA record in the Blown Gas Streamliner class (AA/BGS, 500-plus cubic inches) with a speed of 368.347 mph, marking a significant step in its development program.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe record comes as JCB prepares to open its new $500 million factory in San Antonio, Texas. The facility is expected to employ 1,500 people and manufacture construction equipment for the US market.JCB has a long history of using speed-record projects to demonstrate its engineering capabilities. Alongside Dieselmax, the JCB Fastrac became the world's fastest tractor in 2019 after reaching 135.191 mph, while the JCB GT set a world speed record for a backhoe loader in 2014 at 72.58 mph.This article was originally published on Forbes.com
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