Photo: Guido ten Brink / SB-Medien
This year's Geneva International Motor Show had everything (as usual), from weird, three-wheeled EVs to hypercars with turbine range extenders, but it still would have lacked something had Pininfarina not showed up.
But it did, and it brought a stunning new concept car that seems to have come out of the blue (bar for the mandatory teasing). Called the Pininfarina H2 Speed, it's a cross between a supercar and a competition prototype that uses electric power obtained from a lightweight fuel cell. That's the short version of explaining what makes the H2 Speed tick.
According to Pininfarina, the powertrain development took two years, but it has led to the birth of "the first hydrogen high-performance track car in the world." A quick memory search followed by an even quicker Google one confirms this theory.
The electricity produced by the hydrogen fuel cell is used by a pair of race-specification electric motors, but unfortunately, these are all the details we have on powertrain. No combined power output, no motor distribution (one for each axle or are they both driving the rear wheels?), no performance figures. We're basically told to look at what the car looks like and just trust our instincts.
And our instincts have a good feeling about this. Describing the concept as "halfway between a competition prototype and a production supercar," Pininfarina seems to have done a pretty accurate job. The H2 Speed clearly has some design influences from the motorsport world, as proven by the car's overall shape and that crest that links its roof to the large rear spoiler.
Aerodynamics was also a key factor in the development of the H2 Speed, which should come as a given with a car that tries to mix racing-grade performances with efficiency - two concepts in slight contradiction. As a result, the Pininfarina concept car has one of the sleekest side profiles we've ever seen, and we won't even try to make sense of those cut-outs where normal cars have doors. But the important thing is that the H2 Speed looks good, in the most futuristic way possible.
It'll also sound special, Pininfarina says - at least for an electric vehicle, that is - and it's apparently down to the compressor technology it uses, which should achieve an almost silent drive. The hydrogen power unit was developed by Swiss specialist GreenGT.
Pininfarina intends to build the car in a limited run, and expects to have no trouble finding customers for the H2 Speed. One look at the gallery below will tell you that the Mahindra-owned company has every reason to feel confident. It's one of the most beautiful cars in Geneva, and that's not a compliment to be taken lightly.
According to Pininfarina, the powertrain development took two years, but it has led to the birth of "the first hydrogen high-performance track car in the world." A quick memory search followed by an even quicker Google one confirms this theory.
The electricity produced by the hydrogen fuel cell is used by a pair of race-specification electric motors, but unfortunately, these are all the details we have on powertrain. No combined power output, no motor distribution (one for each axle or are they both driving the rear wheels?), no performance figures. We're basically told to look at what the car looks like and just trust our instincts.
And our instincts have a good feeling about this. Describing the concept as "halfway between a competition prototype and a production supercar," Pininfarina seems to have done a pretty accurate job. The H2 Speed clearly has some design influences from the motorsport world, as proven by the car's overall shape and that crest that links its roof to the large rear spoiler.
Aerodynamics was also a key factor in the development of the H2 Speed, which should come as a given with a car that tries to mix racing-grade performances with efficiency - two concepts in slight contradiction. As a result, the Pininfarina concept car has one of the sleekest side profiles we've ever seen, and we won't even try to make sense of those cut-outs where normal cars have doors. But the important thing is that the H2 Speed looks good, in the most futuristic way possible.
It'll also sound special, Pininfarina says - at least for an electric vehicle, that is - and it's apparently down to the compressor technology it uses, which should achieve an almost silent drive. The hydrogen power unit was developed by Swiss specialist GreenGT.
Pininfarina intends to build the car in a limited run, and expects to have no trouble finding customers for the H2 Speed. One look at the gallery below will tell you that the Mahindra-owned company has every reason to feel confident. It's one of the most beautiful cars in Geneva, and that's not a compliment to be taken lightly.
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