Let’s start the week with a dream car that seems to embody children’s fantasies: the fast and futuristic Alpine Alpenglow supercar is a real concept car for car shows! It was indeed born in this form in the already quite distant year of 2022. It seems that they showed off on the insert and forgot about it.
But no, the fate of the Alpine Alpenglow concept turned out to be completely different. The Alpine Alpenglow Hy4, a real racing car, was built on its basis, and not just any car, but a hydrogen one!
The overall design of the 2022 concept has been retained, but the creation of a real-world vehicle required many internal changes: elaboration of the body structure and aerodynamics, development of deformation elements and force structure, suspension layout, etc. However, the most important change was the emergence of an internal combustion engine that runs on hydrogen.
Yes, that’s right. Typically, hydrogen cars use energy cells, where a chemical reaction takes place and generates electricity for the traction motor. However, there is another concept: the construction of an internal combustion engine where a hydrogen-air mixture is burned – this is the option chosen for the Alpine Alpenglow Hy4.
Inside the Alpine Alpenglow Hy4 concept car is a 2-liter 4-cylinder turbo engine that can reach 7000 rpm and produce 340 horsepower. According to calculations, this should be enough to reach a top speed of 270 km/h.
Of course, there are exhaust gases. However, the exhaust is still cleaner than that of a gasoline or diesel engine: there are fewer carbon dioxide emissions, no soot emissions, and the NOx emissions can be controlled by various neutralization systems. In addition, the hydrogen internal combustion engine offers the advantages of not only minimal exhaust emissions, but also the presence of vibrations and growls – this creates an emotional component, which is especially important for sports cars.
The Alpine Alpenglow Hy4 concept car was first demonstrated on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and is expected to appear on the track of the legendary Le Mans race. At the moment, it is only a demonstration drive, but it is possible that hydrogen engines will be used in various races in the future.
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