Hydrogen Car Hits 406 mph at Bonneville Salt Flats
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- Andy Green, a retired Royal Air Force pilot, drove a hydrogen-powered car to 406 mph (654 km/h) at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats — the fastest speed a hydrogen vehicle has ever achieved.
- Green is the same driver who piloted the jet-powered ThrustSSC to 763 mph (1,228 km/h) across Nevada's Black Rock Desert in 1997, making him the first and still only person to break the sound barrier on land.
- The Bonneville run establishes a new benchmark for hydrogen propulsion in motorsport, though the 406 mph figure remains far below Green's 1997 jet-powered record of 763 mph.
- The ThrustSSC's 1997 mark at 763 mph remains the outright land speed record, with the hydrogen car now claiming a category-specific record rather than an all-comers record.
Why it matters: Green's 406 mph run gives hydrogen propulsion a tangible benchmark in motorsport, separating category-specific records from the outright land speed mark he set in 1997 with the jet-powered ThrustSSC — a distinction outlets covering both feats tend to blur.
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