These companies have been joined by smaller startups with big plans. The most ambitious appears to be UK-based Viritech, which plans to build the world's first mass-produced hydrogen-powered supercar.
It's called Apricale, from the Latin Apricus, meaning "touched by the sun." Although it is more suitable for solar-powered cars, the name was chosen because the star at the center of our solar system is composed of about 73% hydrogen.
For manufacturers developing electric supercars, one of the main reasons for choosing battery power as their weapon of choice is that such power packs can be easily integrated into the chassis.
The fuel cells are connected to large high-pressure tanks that store hydrogen, but they are too heavy and unstable for such vehicles. Viritech says its solution is a revolutionary lightweight graphene composite pressure vessel that can be used as a structural component of the Apricale monocoque chassis. The patent-pending design will be used for other purposes, such as storing oxygen and nitrogen for various uses.
While the company revealed that the powertrain will be capable of producing 1,100 horsepower, no other details have been revealed.