BMW H2R

Germany Builds World's Fastest Hydrogen-Powered Car

At the Paris Auto Show this week, the German luxury automobile giant BMW unveiled a 185 miles per hour hydrogen-powered car. The vehicle, called the H2R, has a modified 6-liter, 12-cylinder internal combustion engine.

As desirable as the high standard of ignitability of hydrogen within the engine may be, it also requires a great deal of attention outside of the combustion chamber. To avoid misfiring, for example, BMW's engineers have developed a specific gas cycle and injection strategy, with BMW's VANOS infinite camshaft adjustment masterminding the share of residual gas according to specific, on-demand requirements:

Before the hydrogen/air mixture is able to flow into the cylinders, the combustion chambers are cooled by air to ensure that the fuel/air mixture is not able to ignite in an undesired, uncontrolled process.

It's quite a handsome machine even though it doesn't look like it has a passenger seat. Hell, it doesn't look like it even has enough space for a pizza. Obviously, it's not designed for the average consumer.

Of note is the hydrogen fuel technology and it should come as no surprise that the Germans are at the forefront of innovative hydrogen-powered vehicles. In the early part of the 20th Century, the Germans pioneered the use of hydrogen in transportation with the world's fastest dirigible. Unfortunately, their pioneering effort hadn't solved the pesky "undesired, uncontrolled" ignition problem.