Former F1 and endurance driver Olivier Panis, now a team owner with 1998 world football champion Fabien Barthez, got back behind the wheel on the Thursday before the race and again on the Saturday morning in a curtain-raiser to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. On both occasions, he drove a car quite unlike any other around the legendary circuit: a prototype powered by an electric-hydrogen power unit, a first since the race began in 1923.
There is no need to recharge Green GT H2 (the hydrogen molecule contains two atoms, hence the name H2!) because, unlike conventional electric cars, this prototype produces its own electricity using an electric-hydrogen generator (or fuel cell).
Race-goers might have noticed what they thought were fumes coming from the back of the car but it was in fact water vapour as the vehicle is entirely non-pollutant. As for Panis, international ambassador for Green GT, he was surprised to actually hear the crowd for the first time: usually engine noise drowns out the fans’ cheering!
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