© Green GT

The time may have come to turn a years-old vision into reality: On Aug. 30, 2016, Pininfarina announced that it would use the Green GT powertrain design in its small-batch race car H2 Speed. The Italian car designer, which was bought by the Mahindra conglomerate for USD 28 million last December, had unveiled a concept study of the powerful, high-performance and hydrogen-run Le Mans Prototype at the Geneva International Motor Show in early 2016. Swiss Green GT began to develop the car’s powertrain in 2012 and after a 2013 presentation was postponed, the drive system was first tested on the race track in 2015 and 2016 at the French Circuit Paul Ricard (with Formula 1 driver Olivier Panis behind the wheel) and in Le Mans, respectively. The prototype uses two electric motors supplied by a 210 kW SymbioFCell PEM system. Pininfarina plans to manufacture between ten and one hundred units for affluent racing fans – priced at USD 2.5 million each. A functional prototype is said to be available in early 2017. The small-batch version is scheduled for late next year.