We have seen electric hypercars and how they combine the force of electricity into stupendous acceleration. Now, it is the turn of a new hydrogen-powered hypercar called Viritech Apricale. The power figures are stunning and match any current all-electric hypercar or even a conventional gasoline hypercar with 1,072bhp on tap. The other figure which is even more ludicrous is its sub-1000kg weight. These two numbers when combined together make it one of the fastest moving objects!
Viritech claims that it does 0-62mph in under 2.5 seconds while all that power is harnessed from a 400kW electric motor on each axle along with all-wheel drive providing a safe canvas to exploit all that power.
We saw the hypercar at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and here it certainly stood out, despite rubbing shoulders with the established hypercars out there. The key to the Apricale is managing weight and making it lightweight. The range is pegged at 350 miles but the astonishing weight figure is due to the efficiently packaged battery and not using rare earth metals. However, being hydrogen-powered, the tanks are quite heavy and here too, the company has worked around that solution. The tanks themselves are embedded within the structure which is also fully carbon fiber. A single ratio gearbox is used while it will gallop to a top speed of 200mph.
The lines are penned by Pininfarina and they are pretty without the shock value seen with other hypercars. The surfacing is smooth and chiseled with a proper mid-engined hypercar shape. One of the other more interesting details about the car is its unique wheels. These wheels are lightweight carbon hybrid ones made by Dymag. It features a carbon rim with a forged centerpiece and is 50% lighter than a traditional forged aluminum wheel. The tires are Michelin Pilot Sport 4 with carbon composite brakes. Standard hyper car fare then.
The multi-hundred kW fuel cell system and the lightweight battery have given birth to a hypercar powered by hydrogen fuel cells with the chief attraction being that it is much lighter than an electric hypercar.
Only 25 would be built in conjunction with Pininfarina and it certainly provides a glimpse into the future of hypercars.