Riversimple wins £1.7m grant for 400-mile hydrogen car

Welsh hydrogen car company Riversimple has secured government funding for an ambitious new project: a lightweight hydrogen vehicle with a 400-mile range weighing under 1,000 kilograms. The project is called ZELLOR — Zero Emission Lightweight Long Range — and has a total budget of £1.7 million.

Government funding via DRIVE35

The funding comes from the UK's DRIVE35 programme (Driving Research & Investment in Vehicle Electrification), a £4 billion government commitment running to 2035 aimed at strengthening the UK automotive sector's transition to zero emissions. ZELLOR was one of 18 demonstrator projects announced on 9 April 2026 as part of a broader £470 million funding package. The bulk of that package went to Agratas for battery gigafactory investment, but Riversimple secured one of the most technically distinctive projects in the round. The grant is delivered through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) in partnership with Innovate UK.

What does Riversimple want to prove?

Riversimple is setting out to demonstrate something that sounds straightforward but has so far eluded the industry: a fully zero-emission vehicle with a 400-mile range that weighs under 1,000 kilograms.

Current zero-emission cars with a 400-mile range are heavy — typically over 2,000 kilograms, largely due to battery packs. Riversimple's approach is radically different: by using hydrogen and supercapacitors instead of a heavy battery, a full carbon-fibre chassis and four small in-wheel electric motors, weight is drastically reduced without sacrificing range.

The current Rasa Beta weighs 580 kilograms and achieves around 300 miles on 1.5 kg of hydrogen using a 10 kW fuel cell. ZELLOR builds on this foundation and pushes further: 400 miles of range, under 1,000 kilograms.

Supercar as a technology catalyst

ZELLOR is closely related to the hydrogen supercar Riversimple announced in August 2024 — a 620 kg vehicle with over 400 miles of range, 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds, and a fuel cell of just 29 kW. Both projects share the same technical core: advanced carbon composites, inboard electric motors, supercapacitors and lightweight fuel cell technology.

Riversimple has stated explicitly that the supercar serves as a testbed for technology that will later be applied to its more accessible production car — the everyday successor to the Rasa.

Lightweight as philosophy, not marketing

For Riversimple, low weight is not a marketing choice but a deeply held philosophy. Founder Hugo Spowers has long argued that the automotive sector is facing a weight crisis: new cars are on average 25 percent heavier than seven years ago, largely due to the shift to battery-electric vehicles. That extra weight has negative consequences for energy consumption, road safety, tyre wear and microplastic pollution — 78 percent of microplastics in the world's oceans originate from vehicle tyres.

By using hydrogen as the energy carrier and supercapacitors for peak loads, Riversimple sidesteps the biggest driver of that weight: the battery pack. And a lighter car uses less hydrogen, reducing the cost per kilometre.

What does this mean for the road to production?

Riversimple has missed several production deadlines in recent years. The ZELLOR grant is, however, a concrete step forward: government funding through a formal programme, accompanied by a clear technical brief. It gives the company resources and credibility to develop its approach further.

The ZELLOR project must demonstrate that the combination of zero emissions, long range and low weight is technically achievable — not just in theory, but as a running demonstration vehicle. Whether that also paves the way to mass production remains the big question. But the direction is clearer than it has ever been.

Sources:

• LinkedIn – Riversimple ZELLOR announcement (9 April 2026)

• The Engineer – Riversimple's ZELLOR lightweighting project nets £1.7m grant (April 2026)

• Riversimple.com – Press releases: Demonstrate35 grant

• FuelCellsWorks – Riversimple supercar announcement (Aug. 2024)

• Wikipedia – Riversimple (updated April 2026)