Corgi Revs Up First Hydrogen Remote Controlled Car February 07, 2008

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The motor industry might be wrangling about the best way to make cars greener but toy car maker, Corgi, is forging ahead by announcing one of the first remote controlled cars powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

This is the H2GO, sporting a hydrogen-fuel cell for power and which can be recharged using water in the bundled refuelling station, which itself is solar powered. How green is that?

The fuelling station takes just 4 minutes to charge up and lasts an hour. The car itself is good for 4-5 minutes of frantic racing and can be recharged immediately from the fuelling station when things slow down. Even the remote control has a solar panel for juicing up the rechargeable battery. However, for those of us with less reliable sunshine, the fuelling station and remote can be charged using mains electricity.

The sleek, futuristic looking car is the first under the new H2GO brand name and was designed by the acclaimed Luigi Colani, designer of one-off cars for Alfa, Ferrari and BMW, among others.

Michael Cookson, CEO of Corgi International said:

“Today marks a new chapter in the global toy market. The H2GO is not only a fascinating miniature-scale, real-working fuel cell powered RC toy that can be refuelled using plain water, but marks a change in how the toy industry will need to transform and adapt to a clean energy future. The H2GO offers not only great entertainment and playability but also has fantastic educational value [for kids]. Discovering fuel cell technology and being able to fill the car’s refuelling station just with water is an important part of the play experience.”

The car kit launches today and will cost £130 for the one with solar-panels and £100 for one without.-Martin Lynch

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