Scientists – we’ll not call them boffins as it annoys some readers – at the University of Sunderland have converted a Nissan Almera to run off hydrogen.

The project, called HyPower, has been carried out by the university’s Institute of Automotive and Manufacturing Advanced Practice (Amap) with regional partners to develop a car that produces only water at the exhaust.

The full details are under wraps until the car is unveiled at the region’s Partners4Automative conference today.

Adrian Morris, operations manager at Amap, says:

“This project marks a significant step forwards in our understanding of hydrogen as a fuel for the automotive industry. The vehicle will act as a test bed to evaluate novel hydrogen technologies in vehicles and will enhance the region’s status as an important automotive research and development centre.”

Amap has regular links with major automotive companies including Nissan and Komatsu and is looking for partners involved in fuel cells, engine development, biofuel testing, light weight materials and composites.

It’s not massively ground-breaking stuff but still great to see a project like this in the UK.

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