Hydrogen Cobra

'Clean' Cobra now on sale in the USA

By PH Staff / Wednesday, 9 June 2004 / Loading comments

Over in the USA, the Hydrogen Car Company (HCC) has announced the launch of its flagship vehicle, the Hydrogen Shelby Cobra.

Operating on a hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2ICE), the Hydrogen Shelby Cobra is the result of a partnership between HCC and Carroll Shelby Licensing, Inc. (CSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Carroll Shelby International, Inc.

The first of HCC's vehicles available to the public, the Hydrogen Shelby Cobra runs on clean burning, domestically generated hydrogen fuel and is available for order immediately.

Although no power figures are quoted, HCC claim 0-60mph in 4 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 12.8 seconds indicating power is ample.

S. David Freeman, HCC's Chairman chumbled, "We have an historic opportunity to fundamentally change the fuel we use to power our cars. There is a dominant misperception that something is wrong with American cars. It is not the cars that are the problem, but rather the fuel. We do not have to wait decades until hydrogen fuel cell vehicles become viable. The hydrogen internal combustion engine can help us to end our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels today, and it will serve as a bridging technology to the fuel cell ."

According to HCC the hydrogen internal combustion engine uses existing, proven technologies to deliver the environmental and fuel security benefits of a hydrogen fuel cell, but at a fraction of the complexity and cost. HCC's H2ICE vehicles have no carbon (neither CO nor CO2) and super low nitrous oxide (NOX) emissions.

The Hydrogen Shelby Cobra is assembled at Carroll Shelby's engine facility in Gardena, CA. These Shelby CSX 4000 Series Hydrogen Cobras come with the option of a Shelby 427 FE V8, 7.8 liter H2ICE or a Ford 351 V8, 5.8 liter H2ICE and either a composite or aluminum body and prices start at $149,000.

Hydrogen-powered vehicles will utilize an expanding refueling infrastructure that is being developed throughout California and the U.S. In California alone, there are 14 stations and an additional 16 are scheduled to come on line in 2004-2005. Supporting their development, California Governor Schwarzenegger recently signed an Executive Order creating a public-private partnership to realize the "hydrogen highway," which will result in 170 stations being added to the state's major freeways by 2010. Illinois has also announced a "hydrogen highway" plan and other states are poised to follow.

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