Alpine reveals hydrogen supercar

Alpenglow Hy4 that ran at Spa will steer development of new hydrogen-powered V6

- CHARLIE MARTIN

AIpine has unveiled the Alpenglow Hy4, a hydrogen-combustion supercar that will be used to develop the technology for future road and track cars.

An evolution of the Alpenglow concept shown two years ago, it made its dynamic debut at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium last weekend as a showcase of the performance potential of the emerging technology.

It is powered by a new turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine said to be unrelated to the A110's. Hydrogen is drawn from three tanks, each carrying 2.1kg of This is then injected into the cylinders at 40 bar alongside a spray of water that is said to reduce toxic NOx emissions.

The powerplant can rev to 7000rpm-200rpm higher than its limit in the top-rung A110 R and sends up to 335bhp through a sequential gearbox. Performance is said to be comparable to its petrol counterpart.

To accommodate the system, Alpine has tweaked the Alpenglow's proportions compared with the 2022 concept. It sits slightly higher and the crash structure has been reworked to fit two occupants, for instance, and the sidepods now host the hydrogen tanks.