Hydromax breaks the land-speed record for a hydrogen-powered vehicle

At the Bonneville Salt Flats, the Hydromax reached an average speed of 653.909 km/h. At the wheel, Andy Green — who had already driven JCB’s Dieselmax in 2006 — set a new world land-speed record for a hydrogen-powered vehicle on behalf of the British manufacturer, after two runs in opposite directions.

The first run reached 644.740 km/h. The second hit 663.267 km/h. The average recorded by the FIA was therefore 653.909 km/h, far ahead of the previous hydrogen record, set at 298.5 km/h in 2004. The Hydromax also beat JCB’s diesel record, set at 563.418 km/h in 2006 at the same site.

The car is nothing like a road model. It measures 9.75 m and produces around 1,600 hp. Under its bodywork, two JCB engines derived from units designed for construction equipment burn hydrogen directly in their combustion chambers.

This architecture differs from that of fuel-cell cars. In those vehicles, hydrogen reacts with oxygen to produce electricity, which then powers an electric motor. With the Hydromax, the gas serves directly as fuel for internal combustion engines, using a principle similar to that of a gasoline or diesel engine.

So what does this mean in practical terms? JCB is showing that a hydrogen engine can reach very high speeds without using a fuel cell. But the record involves a vehicle that is not a road model: it demonstrates technical capability, not the arrival of a production car. Andy Green, who drove the Hydromax, also holds the outright land-speed record, having reached 1,227.986 km/h in 1997 aboard the ThrustSSC.