At first glance, you might mistake the Viritech Apricale as the latest design from hypercar maker Koenigsegg, but it’s not. The Viritech Apricale is a British hypercar that’s powered by hydrogen. Many of the specifications for the vehicle are a mystery at this point, but what we do know is that it’s being developed to produce 1100 horsepower.
Viritech is a company that we’ve never heard of, but it’s aiming to be the leading supplier of hydrogen powertrain solutions in the world. The company plans to sell its hypercar in limited numbers for about £1.5 million before tax. It’s unclear how many, if any, the company actually expects to sell. However, the real point of the car was to serve as a demonstration tool for the company’s hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Viritech plans to offer its fuel cells to other automakers for passenger cars, transportation vehicles, aircraft, and boats. The company decided to go with hydrogen rather than battery power because company cofounder Matt Faulks says there are two issues with battery power. One issue is something called mass compounding element, where the more energy storage you need, the heavier the car gets. The second issue is the large amount of raw materials used in building large battery packs.
The company wanted the hypercar to push the boundaries of technology and be lightweight, ruling out batteries. Certainly, with the company wanting to sell hydrogen powertrains to third-party automakers, the choice was clear. The company is targeting a driving range of around 500 miles, and hydrogen fuel cells are green, producing no pollution.
The Apricale isn’t the only vehicle the company has intentions to produce. It’s also working on an SUV known as the Tellaro. The SUV is meant to show how the fuel-cell technology could be used in larger and heavier passenger cars.