Williams Advanced Engineering Unveils Hydrogen Hybrid Hypercar Platform

Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) was spun off from the Williams Formula 1 team in 2010, and since then, it has been developing new innovations for all sorts of vehicles, with the latest taking a new approach to the electric hypercar platform it revealed exactly a year ago.

That platform was called EVR and was composed of an 85-kilowatt-hour battery with fast-charging capability, promising charging times of under 20 minutes, and a maximum driving range of over 279 miles. As a complete vehicle, the target weight was under 1,800 kilograms/3,968 pounds, and it was projected to be capable of hitting 62 mph in under two seconds and topping out at over 248 mph.

That's still fantastic, but now WAE has revised the platform to enable a hydrogen hybrid powertrain. As you might have predicted, the platform is called EVRh.

So what's new?

This is not a hydrogen combustion system but a hydrogen fuel cell (or FCEV), where a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen creates electricity. This is stored in a state-of-the-art liquid-cooled battery pack, itself housed within the hypercar platform's lightweight composite structure. A 600 kilometers/373 miles range is predicted, albeit on the WLTP cycle. All good and well, but how quick is it?

Well, the 0-62 mph time is now quoted at "less than 2.5 seconds," so it appears that the EVRh is not as quick as the EVR. Blame that on the extra weight, with this platform targeting a figure below 1,900 kg/4,189 lbs, a few Cornish pasties less than what the technologically marvelous Koenigsegg Gemera weighs. It's also well under the figure quoted by the stupendous Rimac Nevera (4,740 lbs).

All of this depends on what the eventual manufacturer/s - whoever they may be - does with the car. The EVRh simply provides a one-stop turnkey solution for any OEM to create a special hypercar, saving costs and development time.

But what you really want to know is how much power it makes, and the figure may surprise you. Williams quotes a figure of 430 kilowatts, or 577 horsepower. Not a lot, is it? But don't forget that the OEM can still fit their own systems, and this platform's potential for multiple e-motor configurations allows all- or rear-wheel drive.

In fact, with the right setup, Williams estimates that it would be possible to lap the Nurburgring in under 7:20.000. Yes, that's slower than even the BMW M4 CSL can do it, and that's far from a hypercar, but with relatively low weight, the potential for immensely powerful motors, and a layout created by people with true motorsport experience, the EVRh gives us a glimmer of hope that pure EVs need not be our destiny.

We hope to see an OEM take advantage soon.