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It makes more than one dream of it, but the challenge to be met is immense. Never mind, Olivier Bompard, firmly believes in it: the Hopium Machina, the luxurious French hydrogen sedan, will be well marketed in 2025. In the meantime, it reveals its interior.
Presented at the VivaTech 2021 show, the Hopium Machina Alpha 0 rolling demonstrator had unleashed passions. Entirely designed and manufactured in the manufacturer’s laboratory, at the foot of the Montlhéry circuit, this car has the particularity of operating according to the principle of oxidation-reduction (dihydrogen H2 and oxygen O2) in a fuel cell. The latter produces electricity which powers the motor, the power of which is here increased to 500 hp. Above all, the fuel cell rejects only water, thus allowing zero local emissions.
A year later, the French manufacturer unveils the Hopium Machina Vision, the concept car which should be the closest to the production model, and offers for the first time an immersion within the cabin. The interior offers a very refined space, made of taut lines and curves supposed to echo the “purity“of hydrogen. The floating center console is made up of a haptic feedback control panel for interacting with the infotainment screen and controlling the gearbox selection (PRND).
The flexible Oled screen that runs along the bottom of the windshield bay is retractable. It can be deployed on demand, in landscape format, and integrates the on-board computer in front of the driver and the comfort information (air conditioning, weather, navigation, music, etc.) in the center in a single piece; on the right, opposite the passenger, it gives access to a panel of application icons. A priorithe screen retracts during autonomous driving.
In the back, only two passengers seem to be able to take place, but the seats can lengthen as in the Audi A8, for example, in order to offer a view of the panoramic glass roof which becomes opaque or brightens with a simple wave of the hand. Note also that the backs of the front seats incorporate a touch screen and connected.
Outside, the silhouette does not change, but still offers a particularly neat design. The line is both muscular, with very wide hips and inflated fenders, and fluid, with low ground clearance and a low roofline. The front headlights feature an original design reminiscent of waves on the surface of water, while the active grille opens on demand to help cool the fuel cell. Finally, the doors dispense with handles and open automatically when the driver approaches.
If we don’t have any other technical details at the moment, Olivier Lombard, CEO of the Hopium brand, ex-winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LPM2 and test driver in the Green GT LMPH2G category, seems calm. According to him, the schedule is respected. He declares at the microphone of BFM Business : “We have a vision which is starting to become extremely clear on the industrialization aspect, we already have two sites where we want to produce in France which have been selected. We have a very clear vision of how we are going to do things in the time available.“
“The idea being of course also to appeal to partners“, he told us in a previous interview. The hydrogen tanks, for example, are made of carbon and come from the French manufacturer Plastic Omnium; the traction chain, whose origin remains secret, also comes from suppliers interested in the project.
For Olivier Lombard, the Hopium Machina comes at the right time, insofar as the majority of MEPs voted to ban the marketing of combustion engine vehicles from 2035, while the French government adopted a 7 billion euros staggered until 2030 for the hydrogen sector, with a planned network of 1,000 charging stations. “The electric remains unsuitable for large riders and to travel great distances, it is a transition“, he told us last year.
As a reminder, 95% of hydrogen production today comes from steam methane reforming, a chemical process that consists of producing hydrogen from the methane present in natural gas or biomethane. Only the remaining 5% is produced by electrolysis of water, making it possible to break down the water molecule (H2O) into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen.
If the process still suffered from an unfavorable energy efficiency, new technologies make it possible, from solar, wind or renewable energies, to produce hydrogen. For the government, the objective is to achieve 52% carbon-free hydrogen in France by 2030. Let us also remember that the storage of hydrogen (its molecule is particularly leaky through seals and materials), its explosive properties and its self-igniting nature if overcompressed make it difficult to transport. These challenges are nevertheless being studied and dozens of projects are in the development phase or have already been completed.
There are already 1,000 reservations for the Hopium Machina. The model will be presented in Paris during the 2022 edition of the Mondial de l’Auto, which will be held from October 17 to 23.