It has a range of 1,000 km and a recharge of a few minutes. His name: Hopium Māchina. This first “premium” hydrogen car, which will be built in 2025 in Vernon (Eure), is arousing a lot of curiosity at the Paris Motor Show.
24 hours before the opening to the public, the first star of the Paris Motor Show, in any case the object of all curiosities, it is her. The Hopium Māchina, which will be built in Normandy, in Vernon (Eure) from 2025, metal grey, good-looking and beautiful lines at the entrance to hall 4. “H” for Hydrogen, “Hope” (hope) and ” Human “. It is the world’s first top-of-the-range hydrogen-powered “premium” car, presented in English by its designer and general manager of Hopium, Olivier Lombard, on a huge, very refined stand of 2,000 m². The sporty and aerodynamic car is photographed and filmed by the international press. While Olivier Lombard and the president of Hopium, the former Minister of Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, answer the interviews.
“We were the pioneers”
“In 2012, I came from thermal car racing. I knew absolutely nothing about hydrogen and electric cars”, admits Olivier Lombard, former driver, winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2. It was a discovery for me of a whole vocabulary that I did not know, the understanding of a technology and its maturity. And I participated in the development of the only hydrogen racing car in the world. We were the pioneers. The objective is to race Le Mans in 2024, we still have it. »
Ten years later, he is at the head of Hopium, which will industrialize the first 100% French hydrogen car in Vernon, where 1,500 jobs will be created. Until then, the funds remain to be found, “we have raised 25 million euros privately and 70 million euros in American funds” certifications and approvals.
By 2030, there will be no more thermal cars on the market. Olivier Lombard believes more in hydrogen than in electric “for its greater autonomy of 1,000 km, a Paris-Marseille, a recharge in three minutes without the bulk of the batteries”, he says. “We can see the limits of electricity, on which the Asians are one step ahead of us with beautiful products. With hydrogen, we are alone. Hydrogen is lighter, less dense. We have durability, performance. The Māchina can reach 230 km/h with 500 HP with more acceleration. »
The model presented at the Mondial is 95% the one that will be marketed. All parts come from France and Europe; “There are fewer raw materials than in a thermal car and even if there may be a Chinese component, we are less dependent on China”, assures Jean-Baptiste Djebbari.
“A bet at three, five, ten years”
Jean-Baptiste Djebbari “believes in it hard as iron” too. “Hydrogen has an interest in decarbonizing industry, mobility, tomorrow planes, he says. And France is well positioned on the subject to produce, transport and distribute. We have fallen behind the Chinese and Americans on the electric battery, and we have room, we have a head start for start-ups that foreshadow what the mobility of tomorrow will be like. We need actors who make bets at three, five, ten years. »
At €120,000, the price of the Māchina is steep, out of reach for the average motorist. “Our goal is to democratize it with several models. Before the Paris Motor Show, a thousand pre-orders in 2021 have already been placed and the list of candidates “who come from thermal or not satisfied with electric” could grow.
Three downsides, however: still marginal hydrogen production, the scarcity of charging stations – “There are not as many as we would like”, admits Olivier Lombard – and production from electricity and gas that emit greenhouse gases. “Green” hydrogen, without CO₂ emissions, still represents only 8% of production.