Last year, the auto world was buzzing about the claim by UK-based startup Viritech that it was building the world’s first production hydrogen hypercar. We admittedly see a lot of vaporware coming out of the woodwork when it comes to vehicle innovations, so we took this with a grain of salt. However, Viritech has confirmed today (and with pictures) that its new Apricale will be ready to hit the streets by early 2024.
Aside from the beautiful futuristic build by Viritech, with a body stylized and optimized by Pininfarina, the Apricale will also be the first zero-emissions hypercar ever, putting out 1,000bhp, achieving the agility of a combustion-engined hypercar with the response time of an EV. Prior to now, hydrogen fuel cells were used as range extenders on battery-powered cars, but now, utilizing Viritech’s patent-pending Tri-Volt Energy Management System, the vehicle can maximize its potential without getting bogged down by an electric battery.
We buried the lede a bit by not mentioning that the new hypercar also weighs an unbelievable 1,000kg (~2,205lbs). By comparison, a Mazda MX-5 — the modern benchmark for lightweight cars — comes in between 1,058kg and 1,080kg. While the numbers on electric vehicles are typically higher than those on gas-powered cars, the electric batteries are usually heavier than gas engines, thus forcing these high-performance EVs to use much of their power on carrying that extra weight rather than on the performance itself.
Despite a limited run of just 25 examples, this innovation could have a ripple effect throughout the automotive industry the likes of which we’ve never seen before. While past prices for the Apricale were reported in the $2 million range, an updated price has not yet been given.
