Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies H-Racer Full Review
Posted: 14 February 2008 by Adam Vaughan
Like its roadworthy peers, it's fair to say this hydrogen-powered toy car is of little practical use. While the road-going BMW Hydrogen 7 is as useful as a Fairtrade chocolate teapot because of the lack of UK hydrogen fuel stations and electricity required to produce hydrogen in the first place, the H-Racer's limit is range. About 100 feet, to be precise.
Although it won't take you to the Eden Project, this 15cm-long toy car does make for a fun, educational and very modern reinvention of the chemistry set -- complete with cutting edge eco tech.
In the box, you get the toy car itself, a refuelling station that stores the hydrogen and a solar panel for converting water into the pollution-free gas. To create your own hydrogen, you simply fill the power plant with water, connect it to the mini solar panel and find a window sill to perch it on. We found three to four hours was enough electrolysis for it to separate the Hs from the O and send the H-Racer on a short run. You'll know when you've found a suitably sunny spot -- a challenge in these cloud-sodden isles -- as some tiny blue LEDs light up and bubbles will start rippling.
Once you've transferred the hydrogen to the car via a tube, the car's tiny fuel cell converts the stuff to electricity and your car whizzes off. 'Whizzes' is a bit of a misnomer, though: it moves at a speed more akin to a Sunday driver than a scorching fast Tesla sports car. You'll be lucky to get a minute's worth of travelling power, judging from our experiences.
From a pure design perspective, this is obviously a massive step backwards from the greener and simpler pull-back toy cars that've been around for decades. From the eyes of a kid using their own mini solar station to create hydrogen and electricity, however, we're charmed enough to recommend the H-Racer as a fun eco toy. Just don't be surprised if it's gathering dust on their shelves or carted off to Freecycle after a few months' play. After a score of recharges, even the most ardent budding eco scientists will probably have lost interest.
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