Bonneville, Utah: British engineering company JCB has recorded an average speed of 406.320 mph with its hydrogen-powered Hydromax streamliner at the Bonneville Salt Flats, setting what it says is a new world land speed record for a hydrogen internal combustion vehicle, subject to official ratification by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).
Driven by Wing Commander Andy Green OBE, the 32-foot, twin-engined JCB Hydromax completed two runs in opposite directions within the one-hour window required under FIA rules.
The car averaged 400.623 mph on its first run and 412.135 mph on its second, producing the official two-way average of 406.320 mph (653.9 kmph).
If ratified, the result would comfortably surpass the previous FIA-officiated benchmark for a hydrogen internal combustion vehicle — 185.5 mph, set by the BMW H2R in 2004.
It also takes JCB beyond a record of its own making. The company’s Dieselmax streamliner, again driven by Green, set the world diesel land speed record of 350.092 mph at Bonneville in August 2006. Two decades later, JCB has returned to the same salt flats with hydrogen rather than diesel — and considerably more speed.
The Hydromax result also exceeds the 303 mph hydrogen fuel-cell mark, which JCB says makes the car the fastest hydrogen-powered vehicle of any kind in history.
Two production-based JCB engines deliver 1,600 bhp
The record attempt was made in the Category A, Group XIV – Class 7 FIA World Flying Record Start Land Speed Record category.
Hydromax uses two production-based JCB hydrogen engines producing a combined 1,600 bhp. The engines are manufactured at JCB’s facility in Foston, Derbyshire, UK, and are related to the units being introduced in the company’s construction equipment.
The technology forms part of JCB’s £100 million hydrogen programme, under which the manufacturer has been developing hydrogen combustion engines for its machines.
Unlike a fuel-cell vehicle, which uses hydrogen to generate electricity for electric motors, the JCB system burns hydrogen in an internal combustion engine. JCB says the engines produce no CO₂ at the tailpipe.
JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford, who has led the company’s hydrogen engine programme and proposed the land speed project early last year, 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. 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.”
Andy Green returns to Bonneville
For Green, the latest run adds another entry to an unusually fast résumé.
He 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 was also behind the wheel of JCB Dieselmax when it achieved its 350.092 mph diesel record at Bonneville in 2006, a record that still stands.
Green said:
“Bonneville is the spiritual home of the world land speed record, and JCB Hydromax has just written itself into that history. 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. This record is a huge achievement by a world class team and superb technology.”
At more than 400 mph, “stable” is perhaps doing rather more work than it normally does in an automotive review.
Engineering team builds on hydrogen digger technology
Ryan Ballard, JCB Engineering Director, who is leading the Hydromax project, credited the engineering team for adapting the company’s hydrogen engine technology to the unusual demands of land speed racing.
Ballard said:
“This record belongs to the engineering team which took a hydrogen digger engine and made it the fastest of its kind on earth. This has been an amazing challenge from the outset of it being set in February last year. We came here fully prepared, and the car delivered.”
The record attempt follows an earlier milestone during Bonneville Speed Week, where Hydromax reached 368.347 mph.
That run, conducted as part of the Southern California Timing Association’s (SCTA) event, established a new SCTA record in the Blown Gas Streamliner class — AA/BGS, 500+ cubic inches — and served as a significant step in the vehicle’s development programme before the FIA attempt.
FIA calls achievement a ‘historic milestone’
FIA President H.E. Mohammed Ben Sulayem described the run as an example of how motorsport can help demonstrate emerging technologies.
He said:
“This is a truly historic milestone for motorsport showcasing how innovation, performance, speed, and sustainability can go hand in hand.
“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.
“For over 100 years, the FIA has proudly played a central role officiating land speed record attempts. I would like to thank our Member Club, the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, for their support during this record attempt and offer my congratulations to Lord Bamford, Andy Green OBE, and to everyone involved in this remarkable achievement.”
The FIA must still formally ratify the 406.320 mph result before it enters the official record books.
JCB continues long-running pursuit of speed records
Hydromax is not JCB’s first unlikely encounter with extreme speed.
Along with the Dieselmax record in 2006, the company’s Fastrac became the world’s fastest tractor in 2019 with a speed of 135.191 mph. In 2014, the JCB GT established a backhoe loader speed record of 72.58 mph.
The latest achievement comes ahead of the opening of JCB’s new $500 million factory in San Antonio, Texas, which is expected to employ 1,500 people manufacturing machinery for the US market.
For JCB, however, Hydromax is intended to be more than another high-speed engineering exercise. By taking production-based hydrogen combustion technology beyond 400 mph, the company is seeking to demonstrate what the fuel can do under extreme conditions. The more consequential test will come at far lower speeds, as manufacturers determine whether hydrogen combustion can find a practical and economically viable role in heavy machinery and the wider transition away from fossil fuels.
