Archive · 12 Aug 2026
Andy Green sets hydrogen-powered land speed record at Bonneville
A man named Andy Green is famous for driving a car faster than the speed of sound.
That is so fast it is hard to imagine!
Now Andy has set a brand-new speed record with a different kind of car.
His car, called the JCB Hydromax, is powered by hydrogen gas.
Hydrogen is a gas that can make vehicles go very fast without sending dirty smoke out of their tailpipes.
Andy drove the Hydromax twice across a giant flat salt desert in Utah, going more than 400 miles per hour on average.
That is faster than any other hydrogen-powered vehicle has ever gone.
The car's engines are like the ones used in JCB's digging machines.
Some grown-ups worry that hydrogen is not always clean, because most of it is still made using fossil fuels.
Andy and JCB hope this record proves hydrogen can be the fuel of the future.
Andy Green, the only person to break the sound barrier in a car, set a new hydrogen-powered land speed record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats on Tuesday.
Driving the 32-foot JCB Hydromax, he averaged 406.320 mph (653.909 kph) across two runs of 400.623 mph and 412.135 mph; the FIA result awaits ratification.
The runs beat his own 2006 diesel record of 350.092 mph (563.4 kph) and the previous hydrogen combustion record of 185.5 mph set by BMW's H2R in 2004.
The Hydromax runs on two hydrogen internal combustion engines delivering a combined 1,600 horsepower — the same basic units fitted to JCB's construction diggers.
JCB, which has invested more than $134 million (about £100 million) in hydrogen engines, calls hydrogen the 'fuel of the future,' though most hydrogen is still produced from fossil fuels.
- Who
- Andy Green, a retired Royal Air Force fighter pilot and the only person to break the sound barrier in a car (one report says he is 63, another says 64).
- What
- Set a new world land speed record for hydrogen-powered vehicles, averaging 406.320 mph (653.909 kph) across two runs in the JCB Hydromax, subject to FIA ratification.
- When
- Tuesday, following a practice run last week that reached 368.347 mph (592.797 kph).
- Where
- Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, about 100 miles (160 km) west of Salt Lake City.
- Why
- To beat his own diesel record and showcase hydrogen as a clean-energy alternative — what JCB calls the 'fuel of the future.'
Hydrogen supporters
Hydrogen concerns
Hydrogen as a clean fuel
Hydrogen supporters
Hydrogen is the 'fuel of the future' and a clean-energy alternative; JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford says a land speed project is the perfect way to prove hydrogen can handle the demands of heavy industry, with zero emissions and no carbon dioxide from tailpipes.
Hydrogen concerns
Hydrogen is only as clean as its source, and the vast majority is currently produced from fossil fuels; green hydrogen remains a tiny fraction of global production, and hydrogen combustion engines pose unique safety challenges due to the pressure and flammability of the gas.
Cost and adoption
Hydrogen supporters
JCB has invested more than $134 million in hydrogen engine development and is already producing hydrogen-powered diggers, showing the technology works at the highest level with production-based engines.
Hydrogen concerns
Researcher Greg Keoleian of the University of Michigan says higher production costs versus petrol and diesel remain a barrier to adoption, though growing interest in extracting hydrogen from natural deposits could cut costs significantly.
- Driver
- Andy Green, retired RAF fighter pilot (reports differ: 63 vs 64)
- Vehicle
- JCB Hydromax, 32-foot (9.75m) twin-engine hydrogen car
- Record speed
- 406.320 mph (653.909 kph) average; runs of 400.623 mph and 412.135 mph
- Power
- Two hydrogen internal combustion engines, 1,600 hp combined
- Records beaten
- Diesel record 350.092 mph (2006); hydrogen combustion record 185.5 mph (BMW H2R, 2004)
- 1997 outright record
- 763.035 mph (1,227.985 kph) in Thrust SSC, Black Rock Desert, Nevada
- JCB investment
- More than $134 million (about £100 million) in hydrogen engine development
- Location
- Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, about 100 miles (160 km) west of Salt Lake City
