UK-based technology startup Viritech has announced it is developing a 1,000 HP hydrogen hypercar, dubbed Apricale, which comes from the Latin word Apricus, meaning “touched by the sun.
The development of the Viritech Apricale hypercar is set to begin at the MIRA Technology Park in Warwickshire, UK.
Viritech says it’s going to develop the Apricale over the next 18 months. The hypercar will go into limited production at the beginning of 2023 with just 25 cars produced to ensure a rarity value.
The Apricale, will enable Viritech to demonstrate hydrogen’s e potential, where power or range requirements increase, or long term energy storage is required. It will also enable Viritech to showcase it’s F1/motorsports derived engineering experience, with the technologies developed for the Apricale used to feed a multi-year pipeline of hydrogen powertrain solutions for the Automotive, Aerospace, Marine and Distributed Power industries.
By establishing its development programme at MIRA, Viritech can make use of the expansive testing units on site, thereby saving on the considerable cost of building and homologating its own facilities.
Timothy Lyons, CEO & Founder of Viritech said, “Becoming a member of the HORIBA MIRA community is a game-changer for Viritech, moving us immediately into the big-league in terms of the engineering facilities and support, meaning no engineering project is now beyond us. The hydrogen revolution will complement mobility electrification and will account for 400 million cars, 20 million trucks and 5 million buses. And that revolution starts here.”
Jack Bartlett, Head of Commercial & Partnerships at MIRA Technology Park said, “We’re delighted to be able to support the automotive industry’s transformation across all of the challenges of electrification, connectivity & autonomy and alternative fuels and nothing could be more emblematic of the industry’s ambition than Viritech’s Apricale. We’re able to provide three key benefits; deep domain expertise in all aspects of automotive engineering, which means innovators are not hidebound by the cost or time constraints of developing their own capabilities; our flexible facilities allow companies to grow without relocating and as our cluster of automotive innovators builds momentum alongside the established titans of the industry, the ability to attract and retain skilled talent that powers that growth is unmatched. We trust these peerless MIRA Technology Park qualities will serve the Viritech mission well.”
