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radical zero: Hopium Machina

Things are moving forward

News keeps trickling out into the world that this or that manufacturer is continuing to research hydrogen-powered vehicles. The network of filling stations is also being expanded, and there are now eight in Switzerland between Crissier and St. Gallen. However, there are still only two vehicles available for purchase/lease, the Toyota Mirai and the Hyundai Nexo.

Recently, however, at the Mondial in Paris, there was something of a wake-up call. Two French start-ups presented themselves to the world public for the first time – and not with some kind of tinkering, but with really serious vehicles. And they should be as good as ready for series production. We’ll come back to the Pininfarina-styled Namx later, but first here’s the Hopium Machina.

Hopium was founded in 2019 by French racing driver Olivier Lombard – and has meanwhile been able to collect plenty of technical partners and also investors. The Machina is now to be launched on the market in 2025 as the first model; it is already possible to order now, and over 1000 potential buyers are said to have already paid in an amount. Which is understandable, the four-door sedan comes in the finest GT style and also looks very good.

Technically, Hopium doesn’t want to go into too much detail yet. There is talk of a fuel cell that can convert the maximum 6 kilos of hydrogen on board into propulsion energy. The power is supposed to be 500 hp and the range 1000 kilometres. It should be possible to refuel in three minutes and go from 0 to 100 km/h in 5 seconds. Towards the top, the car stops at 230 km/h.

Of course, the Machina is fully networked and should be ready for fully autonomous driving when it is built in 2024 in a factory in Normandy with a capacity of 20,000 units per year. The retail price is said to be 120,000 euros. In any case, we find it exciting that the French are bringing some movement back into the topic of hydrogen propulsion, even if their plans are still a bit vague in some areas.

More local emission-free driving can be found at: zero. Everything else in the archive.

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