REPORTAGE
Another record for Bertrand Piccard. The Swiss driver was this time driving a car to establish, on Tuesday, the world record for the longest distance traveled by a hydrogen vehicle: 700 kilometers. The car was only loaded once, starting Monday from Sarreguemines in Moselle. She finished her journey 24 hours later at Le Bourget. The objective of its pilot: to demonstrate that hydrogen is a solution for the evolution of the automobile. Europe 1 was in the vehicle.
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"There, we are at 711 and there are 95 kilometers of autonomy: driving in a slightly ecological way, we will even exceed 800 kilometers". Bertrand Piccard always wants to go further. "Hydrogen is not the future, it's the present, it amused me to make a record with a production car, on a normal road," explains the driver. "It's not a record I'm doing for myself, it's a record I'm doing for society, all these new technologies, it's a new cycle that's starting, everyone can participate."
"It takes a local manufacture of hydrogen"
In 24 hours, in his Nexo SUV Hyundai, Bertrand Piccard welcomed the President of the Grand Est region, Philippe Richert, Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and Ministers Bruno Le Maire and Elisabeth Borne. To all, he has passed this message: we must invest. "It is absolutely necessary, now, to develop much more the infrastructure and it is necessary a local manufacture of hydrogen."
He arrived at Le Bourget with Prince Albert of Monaco. And always with the spirit of competition. "I do not know if I will manage to empty this tank", jokes Bertrand Piccard. The record was certified by bailiff: 778 kilometers traveled with another 49 kilometers of range displayed on the meter.