The British-built Hydromax uses two production-based JCB hydrogen digger engines producing a combined 1,600 bhp
JCB has set a new world land speed record for a hydrogen-powered internal combustion car, with its Hydromax reaching an average of 406.320 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
The British engineering firm recorded 400.623 mph on its first run and 412.135 mph on the return, producing the required two-way average under FIA rules.
Driven by Wing Commander Andy Green OBE, the 32-foot, twin-engined car completed both runs in opposite directions within an hour.
The performance comfortably surpassed the previous FIA-officiated hydrogen internal combustion benchmark of 185.5 mph, set by the BMW H2R in 2004.
The record remains subject to official ratification by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile.
Hydromax also eclipsed JCB’s own diesel land speed record of 350.092 mph, set by Dieselmax at Bonneville in August 2006, again with Green at the wheel.
Twenty years later, JCB has beaten that benchmark using hydrogen combustion engines which produce no COâ‚‚ at the tailpipe.
The new speed also exceeds the 303 mph hydrogen fuel-cell mark, which JCB says makes Hydromax the fastest hydrogen-powered vehicle of any kind.
The record was set in the FIA Category A, Group XIV - Class 7 World Flying Record Start Land Speed Record category.
Hydromax uses two production-based JCB hydrogen digger engines, delivering a combined 1,600 bhp.
The engines were manufactured at JCB’s Foston plant in Derbyshire and are based on the same technology now being used in the company’s machinery as part of its £100 million hydrogen programme.
JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford, who has led the company’s hydrogen engine project, proposed the land speed record attempt early last year.
Lord Bamford said: “Twenty years ago we came to Bonneville with JCB Dieselmax and showed what British engineering could do with diesel power. Today we have done it again — this time with engines powered by hydrogen.”
He added: “This record was set by production-based engines, the same engines powering JCB diggers right now. That is the point of JCB Hydromax: it shows hydrogen works, and it works today at the highest level with zero emissions.”
Green described the achievement as a major moment for both the team and hydrogen technology.
“Bonneville is the spiritual home of the world land speed record, and JCB Hydromax has just written itself into that history,” he said.
“The car was terrific — stable, strong and fast. Setting a world land speed record with hydrogen power, twenty years after Dieselmax, is a huge privilege.”
JCB Engineering Director Ryan Ballard, who is leading the project, said the achievement demonstrated what could be done with an engine originally developed for heavy machinery.
“This record belongs to the engineering team which took a hydrogen digger engine and made it the fastest of its kind on earth,” he said.
“This has been an amazing challenge from the outset of the it being set in February last year. We came here fully prepared, and the car delivered.”
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem described the result as a significant milestone for motorsport and hydrogen technology.
“This is a truly historic milestone for motorsport showcasing how innovation, performance, speed, and sustainability can go hand in hand.”
He added: “Motorsport has always been a catalyst for technological progress pushing the boundaries of what is possible. This new land speed record continues this tradition, showcasing the potential of hydrogen combustion for the future of sustainable mobility.”
Green already holds the outright world land speed record of 763.035 mph and remains the only person to have broken the sound barrier on land.
He also drove JCB Dieselmax when it set the standing diesel land speed record of 350.092 mph in 2006.
Hydromax had already passed another milestone during Bonneville Speed Week, where it recorded 368.347 mph in the Southern California Timing Association’s Blown Gas Streamliner class.
The world-record run comes ahead of the opening of JCB’s new $500 million factory in San Antonio, Texas, which is expected to employ 1,500 people making machinery for the US market.
JCB has previously used record attempts to showcase its engineering, with the Fastrac becoming the world’s fastest tractor at 135.191 mph in 2019 and the JCB GT setting a backhoe loader speed record of 72.58 mph in 2014.