Pininfarina H2 Speed concept car 2016

World debut at the Geneva Motor Show for the hydrogen-fuelled track car developed with GreenGT

Turin, 1 March 2016 –The new concept car that Pininfarina is world premiering today at the Geneva Motor Show is called the H2 Speed. A showpiece of style and technology in the name of sportiness, performance and pure, environmentally responsible driving fun.

The H2 Speed is Pininfarina’s innovative vision of a high performance track car based on revolutionary hydrogen fuel cell technology already subjected to severe track testing by GreenGT, a Franco-Swiss company which has been designing, developing and producing clean, sustainable propulsion systems since 2008.

Seduced by GreenGT technology, Pininfarina has applied its mastery to express a style that communicates uncompromising beauty and a unique allure, combined with extreme performance. A pure beautiful form, free of any stylistic affectation.

Green GT H2 June 2015 - related review : GreenGT H2 LMP Hydrogen Fuel Cell LMP Racing Prototype 2012

Sculpted by efficiency-boosting aerodynamics, the H2 Speed combines blistering performance to refined lines and shapes integrated in a form of strong emotional impact which embraces the driver and represents the best possible expression of Pininfarina DNA: purity, elegance, innovation expressed through the passion that has always pervaded the world of high performance cars.

The H2 Speed will appeal to passionate people who love speed, performance and innovation and, at the same time, are attracted by the exclusivity typical of a Pininfarina-designed vehicle produced in a limited series. Halfway between a racing prototype and a production supercar, the H2 Speed is the world’s first hydrogen, high performance car thanks to the ‘Full Hydrogen Power’ technology presented by GreenGT, a powerful electric-hydrogen fuel cell drive chain. The result is a zero emissions vehicle that can reach 300 km/h while releasing just water vapour into the atmosphere. With a maximum power of 503 horsepower, the engine accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds. Also notable is the rapid refueling, unknown to traditional electric cars: a full tank of hydrogen takes just 3 minutes.

The H2 Speed almost completely eliminates noise pollution too, the sound emitted by the motor being close to total silence.

With the H2 Speed, Pininfarina confirms its commitment to excellence in design and research applied to sustainable mobility, the strong points of a company that is also intensively occupied in engineering services and in the development of special cars and limited series of exclusive models.

As Chairman Paolo Pininfarina explains: “The H2 Speed is the symbol of Pininfarina’s dedication to purity, elegance and innovation. The spirit of the project is directly linked to the great aerodynamic tradition often explored by Pininfarina over the decades as well as to our most recent dream cars. The present concept is a synthesis of technology, sustainability, harmony, aerodynamic flow and, above all, speed. And it is also the best way to confirm Pininfarina’s role as the standard-bearer of the aesthetic values of Italian design in the world and to strengthen its brand, the company’s true hallmark”.

"Italian style and engineering at the service of product innovation and the manufacture of high volume or niche special vehicles. This in a nutshell is what Pininfarina is today”. And MD Silvio Pietro Angori goes on: “The H2 Speed concept continues Pininfarina’s strategy of designing and developing special cars, namely vehicles produced in limited series for collectors and lovers of unique cars.  The Pininfarina H2 Speed interprets the company’s passion for racing and exceptional, environmentally responsible automotive performance. It is a concentration of Italian styling and sustainable technology for gentlemen drivers and aficionados”.

Pininfarina H2 Speed concept car	Sigma GP 1969

The H2 Speed is part of one of Pininfarina’s main areas of research, that of racing car performance, aerodynamics and technology, as exemplified by the Lancia Aprilia Aerodinamica of 1937, the Fiat Abarth Monoposto Pininfarina Record of 1960, the Dino 206 Competizione of 1967 and the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo Gruppo 5 of 1978.  In this context, however, the most striking example is the Sigma Grand Prix of 1969 which is on show at Geneva alongside the H2 Speed. The Sigma reinterpreted and renewed the Formula 1 concept, introducing major safety content aimed at drastically reducing the risk inherent in motor sport. The work of an international team of experts, the prototype incorporated solutions such as safety tanks and the onboard fire-fighting system that were futuristic at the time but which are now routine.

External styling themes 

Form and function merge together in the H2 Speed concept to create an external design that highlights the vehicle’s sportiness and performance in every detail. Lines and volumes outline a sculpture that is as powerful as it is intriguing. Although it is based on the traditional styling cues of sports cars (low, aggressive proportions, strong design and an emotional synergy between car and driver), the H2 Speed presents the designer with a two-fold challenge: to design a car on a carbon frame and on the mechanical layout of a high performance car of extreme proportions (length 4700, height 1087, width 2000, wheelbase 2900) and at the same time clothe the GreenGT Full Power Hydrogen system, an innovative technology that offers, in terms of vehicle architecture, the necessary originality to generate a unique, outstanding product.

The H2 Speed was born for high performance. Under the banner of essentiality and rationality, all parts of the layout have been designed for the correct distribution of weights to be able to transfer the power and enormous torque of the Full Power Hydrogen system to the ground. 

The sinuously three-dimensional shape springs naturally from an original styling process where the most important constraint – the two large hydrogen tanks at the side – becomes an opportunity. To avoid weighing down the side of the vehicle, the hydrogen cylinders are faired instead of being incorporated into the body volume but they remain visible through a window in the rear part of the fairing where the fuel cap is easy to access.

Arising from the marked sidecut, the three-dimensionality can be seen clearly in the plan lines of the vehicle. The geometric composition of the design from above is particularly intriguing: the car seems to consist of two triangular bodies that intersect to generate the front and rear mudguards. And it is the compenetration of this two volumes that defines the features of the plan, side and perspective views, playing seemingly on a symmetrical drawing. The crests of the mudguards do not follow wing volume in a traditional way but enter and exit the body, giving sensuality and originality to the handling of the surfaces. 

Modelling the side panel makes it possible to hollow out a generous air passage from front to side. The result is an efficient aerodynamic flow and, at the same time, the creation of three-dimensional hollowed out volumes that leave part of the carbon frame visible as well as mechanical parts like the suspension arms. At the entrance to these channels, the two big front radiators located laterally, cool the entire fuel cell block. 

At the front, between the two radiators, a center duct permits the flow of fresh air which, channelled along the sides of the cabin, cools the engine compartment. The muzzle presents two upside-down L-shaped wings which direct the aerodynamic flows and also act as supports for the lighting system: the apparently suspended led strips give the front an attractively original, dynamic expression.

The volume of the cabin is a transparent, tapered, aerodynamic drop shape characterised by a body-coloured band extending over the windshield. Its two ribs integrate roll bar volumes and house an air intake that feeds the compressor intercoolers.

A vertical fin on the bonnet channels flows to the rear; a big spoiler anchored to the fin creates negative lift and downforce to handle the power generated by the electric motor. Also on the bonnet, two air intakes for the radiators are designed to cool the electric motor.

The cut-off rear volume is cleanly detached from the flows and is characterized by sloping mudguard volumes; playing with the sidecut in plan view, the mudguards confer its original shape on the tail volume, directly deriving from technical and aerodynamic needs.

At the centre of the transom a fine, horizontal lighting strip, elegant and basic, integrates lighting functions typical of high performance cars.

The choice of body colour is inspired by the Sigma Grand Prix and gives it a modern interpretation with a plain pearlescent shade of white. As in the Sigma, the addition of fluorescent touches in vermilion and acid yellow highlight the functional areas: the aerodynamic tip of the front, the aerodynamic scoop, the edge of the centre fin, the spoiler fins, the windows that leave the side hydrogen tanks visible, as well as the technical details on the wheel hubs and the brake calipers. Again inspired by the Sigma and racing cars in general, the safety controls and lights/transmitters and the hydrogen filler cap are highlighted in a purely functionalist way. The great functional and technical surfaces (front wings, tank bodies, spoiler, extractor and all the car’s aerodynamic features) are in anthracite grey.

The H2 Speed logo and graphics are a modern tribute to the styling of the Sigma Grand Prix and as in that iconic car of ’69, the presence on the sides of the Swiss flag, associated here with that of Italy, represents a symbolic celebration of the renewed alliance between a Swiss company (GreenGT) and Pininfarina.

Pininfarina H2 Speed concept car : Technical Specifications :

Pininfarina H2 Speed concept car : Wallpapers