Hydrogen powered Mazda RX-8 for Norway

Mazda is to supply Hydrogen powered RX-8 for Norway's HyNor project

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We’ve banged on a bit about our penchant for Hydrogen powered cars. In our eyes it gives the best long-term solution for powering cars in a more sustainable way. Yes, it still uses electricity to power the hydrogen separation process, but it means we can still continue to use cars and fuel cars as we do now. And hydrogen is, after all, the most plentiful of gases.

We’re not alone in this view. Top Gear has thrown their hat in top the ring on this, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, is championing the Hydrogen fuelled future by implementing a hydrogen refuelling programme throughout California.

But manufacturers are also with us on this. Honda is known to favour hydrogen power as the way to go, and Mazda has been running hydrogen powered cars in Japan. But Mazda has now announced that it is supplying hydrogen-powered Mazda RX-8s to Norway, to support a hydrogen powered programme the Norwegians are running.

The first Hydrogen powered RX-8 going to Norway is based on the Euro-spec RX-8, and is to be used in Norway’s HyNor Project, which aims to allow hydrogen powered vehicles to be used and, more importantly, fuelled, on a 580 km stretch of road between Stavanger and Oslo. The first RX-8 will be used by maintenance staff for training, and Mazda intends supplying hydrogen fuelled RX-8s for lease in Norway by the summer of 2009.

This is the first major hydrogen project in Scandanavia (on the whole Euro continent?), and signals a serious intent by both the Norwegian Government and Mazda. We approve hugely.

By Cars UK