The new project sees Riversimple use nearly 30-year-old Audi A2 hatchbacks as “mule cars” to develop next-generation hydrogen car technology under the codename Runabout
A firm that built a car driven by King Charles when he was the Prince of Wales has unveiled a new venture that could revolutionise motoring.
Riversimple, the manufacturer behind the hydrogen-powered Rasa which the monarch drove in 2021, has revealed a new project using nearly 30-year-old Audi models to help develop its next generation of technology.
The company is employing the Audi A2 hatchbacks as “mule cars” to test and refine new systems under the codename Runabout.
The project comes as appetite for alternative fuels grows in the wake of soaring petrol and diesel prices linked to the Iran conflict and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
Riversimple is set to receive £1.7 million in grant funding as part of the Labour government’s DRIVE35 (Driving Research & Investment in Vehicle Electrification) programme, reports the Express.
In a statement, the government described DRIVE35 as a “£2.5 billion programme of capital and R&D funding for the automotive industry, including £500 million to 2035 to extend R&D support for 10 years”.
In response, Riversimple founder Hugo Spowers MBE said: “The automotive industry is struggling with a trilemma: zero emission, lightweight, long range… This project is demonstrating that zero-emission vehicles need not be heavy — and that we have all the innovation and expertise we need right here in the UK.”
The vintage car has been converted to run on a fuel mixture that is 85% bioethanol and 15% unleaded petrol, with the bioethanol derived from wine and cheese waste.
In the same year he drove the Riversimple, the King told the BBC: “I’ve got electric cars now but it’s been so difficult. My old Aston Martin, which I’ve had for 51 years, runs on — can you believe this — surplus English white wine, and whey from the cheese process.”
He added: “The engineers at Aston said, ‘Oh, it’ll ruin the whole thing.’ I said, ‘Well I won’t drive it then,’ so they got on with it and now they admit that it runs better and is more powerful on that fuel than it is on petrol… and also, it smells delicious as you’re driving along.”
Since then, the monarch has also moved further into electric vehicles. Last year, The Sun reported that he had ordered a £160,000 Lotus Eletre SUV.
On why he chose it, royal biographer Dickie Arbiter told the Express that a number of factors would have influenced the decision. He said: “There are those who will say, well, why go for a Chinese car, why don’t you go for a Jaguar that’s manufactured in this country, it’s a lot cheaper.
“It’s not so much about availability, it’s about what the vehicle can do and what the costs are associated with that vehicle. What’s the battery life like? What’s the mileage ratio? He did have one for a period of time, he had it on trial, he knows what he’s getting.”
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