JCB Hydromax sets 406.320 mph hydrogen land speed record

JCB says its hydrogen-powered Hydromax hit 406.320 mph at Bonneville Salt Flats, beating the prior FIA-officiated hydrogen combustion benchmark and topping the company’s own diesel land speed mark. The record is still awaiting FIA ratification, but JCB is using the run to showcase hydrogen engine technology ahead of new factory and production plans.

Why it matters: - JCB used the Bonneville run to show that hydrogen combustion can deliver record-level performance with zero tailpipe CO₂. - The result tops the company’s own 350.092 mph diesel land speed record from 2006 and passes the previous FIA-officiated hydrogen combustion benchmark of 185.5 mph. - The run also outpaced the 303 mph hydrogen fuel-cell mark, making Hydromax the fastest hydrogen-powered vehicle of any kind in history, if ratified.

What happened: - JCB’s hydrogen-powered Hydromax set a world land speed average of 406.320 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. - The car posted 400.623 mph on its first run and 412.135 mph on its second run. - Wing Commander Andy Green OBE drove the twin-engined, 32-foot car. - The two runs met FIA rules, with one pass in each direction completed within an hour. - The record remains subject to official ratification by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile.

The details: - Hydromax used two production-based JCB hydrogen digger engines. - The engines produced a combined 1,600 bhp. - JCB built the engines at its factory in Foston, Derbyshire, UK. - JCB said the engines are the same units now powering machines rolling off UK production lines as part of its £100 million hydrogen programme. - The record was set in Category A, Group XIV - Class 7 FIA World Flying Record Start Land Speed Record. - Last week, Hydromax also hit 368.347 mph during Bonneville Speed Week and set a new SCTA record in the Blown Gas Streamliner class (AA/BGS, 500+ cubic inches). - Green remains the fastest man on earth at 763.035 mph and the only person to break the sound barrier on land. - Green also drove JCB Dieselmax when it set the FIA world diesel land speed record in August 2006, and that mark still stands.

Between the lines: - JCB is linking the record attempt to its broader hydrogen strategy, not just to motorsport publicity. - Chairman Anthony Bamford framed the run as proof that production-based hydrogen engines can work now at the highest level. - FIA President H.E. Mohammed Ben Sulayem cast the attempt as evidence that performance and sustainability can move together in motorsport. - The achievement also extends a long-running JCB pattern of using speed records to market engineering capability, from Dieselmax to Fastrac and the GT backhoe loader.

What's next: - The FIA still needs to ratify the 406.320 mph record. - JCB is moving toward the opening of a new $500 million factory in San Antonio, Texas, which will employ 1,500 people making machines for the US market. - JCB said more than 150 hydrogen combustion engines have already been produced, and first machines are now in production. - More information is available in JCB’s Hydromax newsroom.