Viritech is to test and develop one of the world’s first-ever hydrogen hypercars at the MIRA Technology Park in Warwickshire, UK.
The team-up follows REE Automotive announcement earlier this year of the establishment of a state-of-the-art Engineering Centre of Excellence at the site, which will be used for the development of vehicle dynamics, NVH and durability chassis attributes for an electric modular vehicle platform.
The Apricale is Viritech’s first hypercar powered by hydrogen, and the company hopes to develop the powertrain to provide solutions for the marine, commercial, power generation and aerospace sectors.
“Becoming a member of the Horiba MIRA community is a game-changer for Viritech, moving us immediately into the big league in terms of the engineering facilities and support, meaning no engineering project is now beyond us,” commented Timothy Lyons, CEO and co-founder of Viritech. “The hydrogen revolution will complement mobility electrification and will account for 400 million cars, 20 million trucks and 5 million buses. And that revolution starts here.”
Jack Bartlett, head of commercial and partnerships at MIRA Technology Park, said, “We’re delighted to be able to support the automotive industry’s transformation across all of the challenges of electrification, connectivity and autonomy and alternative fuels and nothing could be more emblematic of the industry’s ambition than Viritech’s Apricale.
“We’re able to provide three key benefits: deep domain expertise in all aspects of automotive engineering, which means innovators are not hidebound by the cost or time constraints of developing their own capabilities; our flexible facilities allow companies to grow without relocating; and as our cluster of automotive innovators builds momentum alongside the established titans of the industry, the ability to attract and retain skilled talent that powers that growth is unmatched. We trust these peerless MIRA Technology Park qualities will serve the Viritech mission well.”
