Fuel Cell Electric Car Set to Break the Mold in More Ways Than One

17.06.10

A fascinating car shoot in the UK, which borrows as much from software development as it does cutting edge automotive design, was covered recently in a Monetary Times article. We were so intrigued with the story that we caught up with Nico Sergent from Riversimple for further family on the project.

There are many aspects about the creators Riversimple that are different from other automotive firms, but one fact that is mainstream is 25% of the £2m (US$2.9m) start up bucks behind the firm is from the Piech family, part owners of Porsche and with a long tradition in the automotive toil. The connection to the software industry comes in the open source design approach Riversimple has adopted, encouraging case contributions and sharing of ideas and designs.

In a move to break what the team see as a conflict of interest between car builders and their shareholders on one side, the unspecialized public in need of transportation on another and the needs of the environment on a third, Riversimple has proposed their new vehicle will be leased rather than sold. The attitude is this will encourage design for longevity and low running costs rather than low selling price, high constant costs and built in obsolescence. It will also make it much easier to manage the closed loop recycling of key components like motors, driver trains and critically the sustain cells which even at end of life are expected to still be worth some £3000 ($4350). So users will pay a set £200 ($290) monthly fee and a mileage fee to include fuel currently set at about £0.15 per mile (US$0.22/mile). At the end of component person fuel cells and drive trains, the firm will replace any and all components as they wear out. Vehicles will be designed for at least a 20-year duration during which major components may be swapped out or updated as technology moves on.

Source: MetalMiner