Britain’s JCB Hydromax sets world land speed record for a hydrogen-powered vehicle
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The Hydrogen-powered JCB Hydromax car on the runway during runway testing at RAF Wittering in Britain, on June 17.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Former fighter pilot Andy Green set a world land speed record for a hydrogen-powered car at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah on Aug 11.
The Briton, already the outright land speed record holder, set his latest first at the wheel of a JCB Hydromax vehicle that harnessed the power of two production-based digger engines to reach a combined speed over two runs of 653.909kmh.
The record run was overseen by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and is subject to ratification by the governing body’s Land Speed Records Commission.
Green, 63, set his land speed world record of 1,227.985kmh in the jet-engined Thrust SSC in 1997.
On Aug 11, he did a run in each direction over a distance of one mile (1.6km) within an hour, and with the average speed establishing the record time.
The first run hit 400.623mph (644.740kmh), the second 412.135mph (663.266kmh).
The previous FIA-officiated hydrogen internal combustion record was 185.5mph (298.5kmh) set by the BMW H2R in 2004.
The JCB Hydromax also exceeded the 303mph (487.63kmh) hydrogen fuel cell mark.
Green also set a diesel land speed record of 350.092mph (563.418kmh) on the same salt flats 20 years ago and in the British engineering giant’s JCB Dieselmax vehicle.
“Bonneville is the spiritual home of the World Land Speed Record, and Hydromax has just written itself into that history,” said Green.
“The car was magnificent, stable, strong and fast. To set a world record with hydrogen, 20 years after Dieselmax, is a privilege.”
JCB, whose fastest tractor can do 135mph (217.26 kmh) and who partner the Aston Martin Formula One team, started the project in June 2025 with Prodrive, Ricardo and Xtrac.
The company has invested £100 million to develop hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines and is using the Hydromax project to promote the green-engined diggers rolling off production lines.
The record run came ahead of JCB opening a new US$500 million factory in San Antonio, Texas, to make machines for the US market. REUTERS
