The Dodge Challenger is a sports car built for strong acceleration and high-speed driving. It’s often talked about because it’s designed to be a “performance challenger,” meaning it’s meant to go fast and feel exciting to drive. That makes it a natural fit when a podcast discusses speed and record attempts.
The Jeep Commander is a mid-size SUV, which means it’s built to fit more passengers and handle everyday driving. It’s designed to be practical, with space for people and luggage. It may be mentioned in the episode because the word “Commander” is used in the introduction.
In this context, “hydrogen-powered” means the vehicle uses hydrogen fuel to make power. The idea is that when it burns hydrogen, it can produce water instead of typical exhaust gases.
Car
JCB HydroMax
JCB HydroMax is a special vehicle made to try for a land-speed record. Instead of gasoline or diesel, it uses hydrogen, and the exhaust is mainly water.
Car
JCB diesel max
The JCB Dieselmax is an earlier JCB record car that used diesel engines. It’s referenced here because it previously held the record for a very fast diesel-powered run.
Internal combustion means the engine makes power by burning fuel inside it. The hosts are saying hydrogen could be used with this kind of engine instead of diesel.
Biofuels are fuels made from living or recently living material, not just fossil fuels. The speaker mentions them as a temporary solution for equipment that can’t easily use electricity.
Concept
zero emissions solution
“Zero emissions” means the vehicle is claimed to produce no polluting exhaust while running. In this case, the speaker says the exhaust comes out as water when using hydrogen.
Hydrogen fuel is a fuel that can produce zero tailpipe emissions. Using it in a fast race car is tricky because the engine has to be tuned to burn hydrogen safely and efficiently.
Torque is the engine’s twisting force. More torque usually means the car can accelerate harder, which matters a lot when you’re trying to reach top speed on a limited distance.
A land-speed record attempt is a straight-line speed challenge on a special track. The car has to accelerate and slow down within a fixed distance, and track conditions can make it harder to hit the target speed.
A salt track is the salt flat surface used for top-speed runs. If the salt is rougher or dustier, it can make the car harder to control and can increase drag, so it affects the record attempt.
Cockpit layout is how the driver area is set up—where the seat and controls are, and what the driver can see. Better layout can help the driver stay comfortable and in control.
An engine test bed is a place where they run the engine and measure how it behaves. It helps them check performance and problems before putting it into the car.
The hydrogen system is everything that handles the hydrogen—storing it and getting it to where it needs to go. It has to work safely and consistently for the car to perform.
“Salt” here means the salt flats where they try to set speed records. The surface and the harsh conditions can affect grip and even how parts wear out.
On a fixed-length track, you can’t just “go as fast as possible whenever.” You have to accelerate enough early to reach the target speed before the run ends.
“Failure modes” means the different ways something can break. In this case, tires can fail in different ways depending on how they’re loaded and how fast they’re spun.
A “spin rig” is a specialized test machine that spins a tire or component at controlled speeds to reproduce real-world stresses. Here, the hosts say the rig was built for the Space Shuttle program, then used to spin tires until they fail to identify failure modes and safe operating speeds.
Term
jet fighter engines
Jet fighter engines are the kinds of engines used in military jets. They produce huge thrust, which is useful when you’re trying to push a vehicle to record-breaking speeds.
W12 means the engine has 12 cylinders arranged in a special shape. The point is usually to fit a lot of cylinders into a compact engine so it can make strong power smoothly.
Concept
world's largest straight line speed meet
This is a speed event where the goal is to go as fast as possible in a straight line. Instead of turning corners like on a track, teams focus on getting maximum speed safely over a long distance.
Bugatti is a famous car brand that builds very high-performance cars. In this conversation, it’s mentioned as a company that didn’t take on this specific hydrogen land-speed challenge.
This means the officials who run the rules for record attempts at Bonneville. If you want your speed to count, you have to follow their requirements and measurement procedures.
FIA is the big international motorsport organization. Saying “FIA record process” means the speed attempt has to be done with official checks so it can be officially recognized.
Company
Porsche and Performance Centre
Porsche has a training/performance facility where people get pushed and evaluated. The idea is that Porsche can study how the vehicle and driver behave under demanding conditions.
Concept
Bonneville in August
They’re planning the record attempt for August at Bonneville. Timing matters because the weather and track conditions can change how well the car can run.
It’s a car that makes electricity from hydrogen using a fuel cell. That electricity is then used to move the car, rather than relying purely on a conventional engine.
This is an engine that uses hydrogen as the fuel, but it still uses pistons like a traditional engine. The big difference is the fuel is hydrogen instead of gasoline or diesel.
Concept
instant power for a few seconds
Construction equipment often needs a quick burst of strong power for a short moment—like when digging or lifting. Road driving usually doesn’t demand those same short, intense bursts all the time.
Concept
backhoe loader
A backhoe loader is a construction machine that can scoop with the front and dig with the back. It’s built for heavy work, so it needs strong power when you’re lifting and digging.
Concept
wheel loading shovel
A wheel loader is a big construction machine with a front bucket used for moving dirt or rocks. It needs strong, quick power to load material efficiently.
Bonneville Salt Flats are famous for trying to set top-speed records. Instead of trusting one run, record attempts often average two runs so conditions are fairer.
Hydrogen can escape more easily than many other fuels, so preventing leaks is a big safety and design issue. That’s why the system has to be engineered to stop hydrogen from getting out.
Instead of taking equipment to a fueling station, the hydrogen can be filled right at the job site. That helps keep machines working with less waiting around.
A “bowser” is a fuel tanker used to deliver fuel to a location—commonly seen on construction sites, farms, or remote works. In the transcript, it’s used as the practical way construction machinery gets refueled before hydrogen delivery becomes common.
These are machines that run on hydrogen instead of diesel or gasoline. The key difference is how they get energy from hydrogen and how they’re refueled at the job site.
Piston engines are the classic kind of engine where parts move inside cylinders to make power. The discussion here is about how long we’ve been making them and how well we understand them.
They’re pointing out that fuel cells may not like the dirty, dusty conditions you get on construction sites. The idea is that the environment can make the system harder to keep working reliably.
They’re saying fuel cells can be affected by temperature changes. Since job sites aren’t climate-controlled, that can be a challenge for hydrogen systems.
Term
hydro maxi
“Hydro maxi” is a project name for a hydrogen-powered machine. The idea is to take a digger-style engine setup and run it on hydrogen instead.
Bosch is a major automotive technology company. The speaker is saying Bosch also helped with parts of the project.
Term
X-Track
“X-Track” is mentioned in the context of a gearbox, suggesting a specific gearbox model or transmission-related component. The speaker implies the gearing and gearbox selection are complex and tightly integrated with the overall powertrain.
LIVE
Welcome to a bonus episode of the AutoCar Podcast brought to you in association with
our sponsor Anderson, makers of design-led premium electric car chargers. Visit Anderson-EV.com
or search Anderson for more. This week our editor-in-chief Steve Crockley meets Lord
Bamford of JCB and also fastest person on earth, Andy Green to talk about HydroMax,
a new speed record challenger. Over to Steve.
It's my pleasure to introduce Wing Commander Andy Green to our usual by working cars audience.
Andy, you're about to attack a brand new land speed record attempt project. Welcome to the pod.
Thank you very much for coming. No, thank you. This is going to be the JCB HydroMax, which is a
hydrogen-powered twin-engined record breaker. Going to go to Bonneville. People will have read a fair
bit about it already, but what we're looking from you is the kind of Andy Green view.
How, when did you hear about this? How did you know about it?
I first heard about the project around about March last year, so March 2025. I was invited up to
JCB to discuss this new concept of taking the same architecture that they took to Bonneville
20 years ago, the JCB diesel max twin-engine JCB digger engines with big turbos on the side,
lots of power, and go and set a world land speed record. JCB did that so well 20 years ago that
that is still the world's fastest diesel car, 350 mile an hour world record, which is starting
with two JCB digger engines. Astonishing. Of course, JCB is looking at the future. What is the
future of internal combustion? Because it's not burning distilled dinosaurs anymore. That's
becoming less and less popular, and they've looked at the challenges of running construction
equipment on sites where you don't have lots of electrical power, that using biofuels and things
like that is a bit of a stop-gap solution, and they've said hydrogen for them is the way ahead
because they can plug it straight into their existing engines. They've spent five years and a
lot of money converting their diesel engines into hydrogen. So literally, it's been 10 minutes
fueling a digger up, and it will then run all day on hydrogen and produce water out of the exhaust
pipe. It is for them the zero emissions solution for the future, and it's using all the all the
existing technology. So apart from the conversion to hydrogen, it's everything that not only the
guys in the JCB factory, but the JCB uses all over the world. Now, if you then put two of those
engines on the dyno and crank them up using hydrogen, which likes to burn, clearly they're
managing that very carefully, that's part of the first thing that JCB got on top of. You can generate
from an engine that normally delivers 74 horsepower, they've got their engines up to 800 horsepower
each with an enormous amount of torque. Put two of those in a long thin
streamlined racing vehicle, just as they did back in 2006, but completely redesigned using
modern technology, much better space frame, it's 10% lighter, it's 10% less drag, and it's got 1600
horsepower. They are looking to exceed the 350 mile an hour world record they set last time,
but now doing it with a zero emissions at zero carbon fuel.
Yeah, it's 350 that you did last time, in fact.
We did. Okay. I get a feeling that the ambition is to go somewhat faster than 350.
Thing is, it's very difficult to say. The salt track is a natural surface. It varies from year to
year, and over the last couple of decades, the salt has been shrinking. Back in 2006, we had an 11
mile track. We went out there last summer to do a recce. The track was just over nine miles long.
When you've got two and a half tonne car to accelerate and slow down again, the loss of two
miles is a significant hazard. Add to the fact that the salt surface has got a little bit more
dust in it now, so instead of very light brown, it's a little bit more crumbly,
and so it's probably less grit, probably more drag. We measure those things when we actually
get out there and start running at speed with this car. Of course, we've got the lesser distance.
Just to repeat what we did in 2006, the hydrogen car is going to have to perform much, much better.
I see. It's on a more slippery surface. It's got to accelerate harder because it's a shorter
distance. It's got to slow down quicker, and it's got to manage probably higher drag,
so it's going to have to generate more power. 350 is a conservative target.
That is what we're aiming to do, and if we crack that, everybody has every right to
be hugely proud of themselves. Was the power to weight of diesel max
less than hydro max? Is it actually going to have more more poke available? I can't remember.
Yes, the JCB hydro max has 1600 horsepower. The diesel max actually on paper had 1500. We only ever
actually used, and I'm dredging my brain now, just over 1250. We never actually used the full 1500
because the car had achieved its 350 mile an hour target, which was the tire limiting speed.
Oh, that's interesting. The extra power though, tweaking an extra 10% power because the drag
goes up with square of speed, you then finish up not getting 10% more speed.
Did you participate in the design, Andy? Obviously, you'd participate in the design
of the previous car, which must be things like cockpit layout and visibility and comfort,
and so on. Can you talk about this one? Yeah, absolutely. I was lucky. Getting involved very
early on actually gave me a chance to get involved in all of the design discussions, so we have a
weekly design and progress meeting, and the great things now you can do it virtually, so we can
actually get together with the guys down in Shoreham working on the engine test bed,
and the guys up here working on the hydrogen system, the team in Prodigy. Shoreham is Riccardo.
That's Riccardo, and I can dial into that and go through that. I've been lucky enough to be
involved in that design process, and some of that is bringing some of the real world practicalities
of operating on the salt. When we started off with it, okay, what's a reasonable assumption for
how quickly can we slow this car down? Because if you've got a fixed track length, that will then
determine how long you've got to accelerate, and therefore how much power you need and what sort
of target speed you. So we'll start from the how quickly can we slow it down? So we had a long
discussion around that, and then we worked on it. Okay, so this is a conservative working assumption
of how much acceleration distance, and therefore within reasonable bounds, with this much power,
we should be able to get about this much, and the numbers all came to 350, looks like the target.
And of course, if you are going to showcase hydrogen as the fuel of the future, it doesn't
want to be, yeah, it's all right, it wants to be, this is better than what came before.
And in order to do it on a shorter, more draggy track in Bonneville, the hydrogen car is going
to have to be better than the diesel car was 20 years ago. So it's just to match the same record,
hydrogen is already outperforming what came before. And you've got some nice new tires
together. Does that make you feel more secure? The thing about the tires back in 2006 is they were
taking the loads on the salt, much better than they took the loads on the on the spin rig on the test
bed, because the heating was less, the cooling was better. So it was a lot less demanding for
the tire on the car. But of course, once we got to the, they've already been tested to this speed,
everybody went, maybe it's maybe it's best to stop, we've already got a startlingly good
result. Now they've tested the, you know, they spun the tires up to as fast as the rig would go
to find out what the failure modes look like, so that they know how much faster that can you say?
No, because it actually, different depending on the start conditions, you get different
failure modes at different speeds. So there's a whole paper in there, which is that it is faster
than we're ever planning to go. You know, it's been spun up on one of the that the NASA spin rigs
is built for the space shuttle. And they spun it until they wrecked tires and said, what's the failure
mode? What are the speeds? And take a big chunk of safety off that. Again, 350 is not working the
tires at all. We now know, as opposed to assuming last time. So it's, it's a high level of confidence.
That's good. That's good. What do you, what, I meant to ask you this last time, just three,
you've done 763.035 miles an hour and busted the, the land speed record. Nobody's ever going to
beat that pile of look at things. What does it do?
Dangerous thing to say, because Malcolm Campbell said that in 1935. But it's been a while here.
After 29 years, you may be right.
Does 350 miles an hour feel, you know, kind of slow?
No. Travelling over 300 miles an hour will never feel slow. But again,
taking a car supersonic with a pair, you know, two of the largest, most powerful jet fighter engines
ever made, certainly of their era, but specifically designed to do that is, you know, they, they are
the aviation equivalent of high performance racing engines. And as we said earlier,
as a guy who, who asked me the question, and he said, yeah, cars done 300 miles an hour,
you're getting there on the, yeah, with its W12 race prepped engine.
Yes. Had they started with a 74 horsepower digger engine and then made it do that, that would be
impressive. And that's the size of the task. Yeah. And then instead of running it on a purpose
built tarmac track in Germany, actually take it out to a natural track in the salt and run it on the
loose, slippery, high altitude surface there as part of the world's largest straight line speed
meet. So to do that and then make it hydrogen powered is a whole raft of challenges that
quite rightly Bugatti didn't get their arms around. Didn't need to.
Well, and didn't also not as quick. I mean, you're going to go faster anyway.
Yeah. And to go 20% faster, you need about 50% more power at least. So it is a huge challenge.
And the, you know, and then to do that with what, you know, as we said before, it's not just us
looking at this and saying, well, you know what, this, this looks and feels like the future of
the internal combustion engine. I said, you know, the SCTA, who are the Bonneville regulators
are developing a hydrogen internal combustion engine class, because this is the first of the
many vehicles they expect to come as part of possibly the future of high speed straight line
racing. The last question. This is outrageous question. Agest coming from a person of my age.
When you, when you first did this, you were in your 30s. And it's 20 years even since you did
diesel max. Do you, do you feel perfectly well equipped to do this the age of 64?
Obviously, I'm going to say yes. Well, you look pretty damn fit.
Quite rightly, JCB did a bit of due diligence as well as going through the whole FIA record
process. So motorsport UK, you have to apply for the license to all the medical tests.
But I also had a very interesting, I wouldn't recommend this is not very enjoyable,
it was a very interesting day going to the Porsche and Performance Centre.
Oh, right. Okay. And being beasted by them for a whole day. And they analyze absolutely everything.
So I now know the salt competition, the composition of my sweat and how I keep myself
hydrated while I'm working. I know what my lactate buildup looks like during exercise,
because they were stabbing and needling my thumb every three minutes while I was
trying to pedal the wheels off the bicycle. I know the relative strengths of all the major
muscle groups in my body because they work them all to collapse in turn, horrible process.
You know, I'm not particularly good at explosive power because unlike racing drivers that explode
onto the brake pedal repeatedly, that's, you know, I come from an aviation background where
that's not actually the skill set, you are the opposite. But the control and response tests,
and during the day, we did two batches of tests with some exercise in between,
and I get faster despite the fatigue. That's why aviation suited me better than motor racing.
So they came up with an overall summary of, yep, good to go. Unfortunately,
it was enough to convince the board as well, so I'm still here.
Fantastic. Well, I think the way to conclude it is to say that we've just heard from the
Chief Engineer that the one component in this car that's carryover is you. So I guess that's
the ultimate compliment. There are two components. The expertise that resides not just within this
building, but within the culture of JCB and Riccardo, and in this case, bringing ProDrive in as well,
is the other carryover. And that's not just the same as last time. That is, with no comment at
all on what happened last time, it's better than last time simply because we're standing on the
shoulders of giants from 20 years ago and taking up another level in terms of understanding the
questions to ask, as well as what the solution needs to look like.
Fantastic. Thanks very much for talking to us, Andy. Best of luck from us.
Thank you. Get yourself out to the salt. Start of August. Gotta be there.
This is the AutoCar podcast, and that was Andy Green. This is Lord Bamford.
Lord Bamford, thank you so much for joining us on our podcast, My Week in Cars.
This is a big deal this week because you've announced the launch, or perhaps not the launch,
you've been doing it for a year at least, of a project called HydroMax, which is a hydrogen-powered
record breaker that you're going to take to Bonneville in August. And Andy Green is
aiming to do 350 miles an hour plus, I gather, in this vehicle. He's not quite telling us what
the true objective is, but I get the feeling that more than 350 would be a nice objective.
That's true. There is no, honestly, we have not got a target other than we want to go quicker than
the diesel max that has still got the record 22 years later. Yeah, it's amazing that, isn't it?
I gather that a hydrogen record exists, but this was for a vehicle that was powered by
fuel cells, hydrogen fuel cells, and you'll be using a hydrogen piston engine, right?
Yes. Obviously, there are engines taken from modified versions of engines taken from your
dig at two of them. Pretty good. The question I wanted to start with is,
everybody says this was your idea. When did it come to you, and could you summarize what the
objective of the idea is? Well, the idea came to me actually about 2000, when we thought of making
our own diesel engines. Before that, we bought engines from all sorts of manufacturers, and we
decided then they were not meeting the legislation quick enough. They hadn't got new products coming
along, new engines coming along, so we decided to make our own engines. Our first engine came out in
2004, and I thought, is there some way, because we want to sell engines to other people who aren't
necessarily making diggers, and was there some way we can show that our technology will translate
into a product which will make a lot more power. We need power in a different way when you're making
a backhoe loader or a wheel loading shovel to actually driving on the road. We need instant power
for a few seconds, so it's different in that respect. I just thought, what is there some way
that we can actually show to the world that we make proper up-to-date diesel engines in those
days. I'd always been a reader of the eagle when I was a child, and the daring do's of
Easton and Malcolm Campbell. All those people were kind of heroes, and then even Sterling Moss,
who you knew perfectly well, didn't you? Yeah, he got records as other people. I can't remember
the other names, but it was really something that I knew about, and I thought, oh my god,
if we could do the same thing. That's what we did in 2006 in Bonneville. We were very lucky. We
got a very clear record of 350 miles an hour. In fact, on one of the runs, we got up to 378,
but it's an average of two runs. Our average was very, but there was nothing anything close to us,
and sadly, nobody's beaten our record. I always hoped somebody would, and this would be a good
reason to actually work again on the car and make more. The car that we are doing now is very different,
because it's powered by hydrogen, and it's our own engine that we've developed.
The development started with the existing engines. We make 400 engines a day. We've made
over a million engines since we did the record. We're proper manufacturers on a world basis now.
You've reached a point, haven't you, where you can start selling hydrogen-powered piston engines
to operators of diggers on a commercial basis? Yes, we have, and we are doing that right now,
and we're making hydrogen engines on the same line as the diesel engines.
Very interesting. The only way you can visually see a difference is one that's got a green block,
sort of apple-green, well, stronger still, and the other's a dark gray block. I can see them
going down the line, but we are going down the line now. What's the customer reaction to hydrogen?
Is it a positive, is the graph going up, as I say? The positive aspect is everybody that has them,
so it's great. What's the fuss about? Actually, to us, that's the greatest thing.
Because it works the same? It works the same. You fill it, and you fill it into a nozzle,
and it takes three minutes to fill it, rather like filling a car. You fill it in almost the same place.
It is a different tank, obviously, and leakage is a major problem that one
has to tackle early on. And also, it's got a noise. Now, you might think, what's the noise
got to do? It should be super quiet. The operator needs a noise, and he's working on a site where
there's all sorts of noises, and they'd like to be able to know when they're accelerating that they've
got the noises there. They actually like that, and that's the sort of the finger up, and it's got
the noise. But it is not problematical to actually fill a machine or to use it.
And you have a system where you can now provide site filling. So somebody that is operating several
of these machines, or a number of these machines, can simply come back to the tank, or the bowser,
or whatever it is, and that's refilled now and then. But basically, they fuel up from a...
They do. Yeah, that's quite right. Most construction machinery is filled, actually,
on the site with a bowser. And that will eventually happen with hydrogen machines. But at the moment,
my son Joe, who has various business, but they're all involved with energy,
is able to deliver to site and to the machine. Great big trailers with hydrogen.
Yeah, interesting. But I'm right in thinking, aren't I, that the reason you are so keen on
traditional engines, piston engines, powered by hydrogen, is because we have this 120 odd years
of know-how about crankshafts and piston engines and so on. And the manufacturing is,
I wouldn't say simple, but it's very well known. Am I right? Completely. And
interesting enough, the first internal combustion engine worked was something like 1807.
I'm sure you know this. Well, it was horizontally engine. This is gas engine, single piston.
Gas. I was going to ask you, what was it powered by? Am I right gas, methane, something like that?
It was powered by hydrogen. Really? Yes. The very first. Not petrol or gasoline. Well,
I think I turn to the First World War. You know, there was other things before that.
The Grave Fergie had, I think it was called TVO, it was paraffin and something else mix.
So what we're used to in diesel and petrol or gasoline is not what it was a few years ago.
So quite new, yeah. You're big on history, aren't you? Not really. Well, I've had to learn though
for internal combustion. Yes. Look, why do we like internal combustion? We know them,
we've made a million engines. And this is based on that as the original engine, our original,
and the architecture and everything. They are not crazily expensive. A fuel cell, which is a way
of using hydrogen is 10 times the cost of what a normal engine will be. So that's an impediment
to start with. But they also have limitations as well. Our products from the moment they start
work are digging in dirt and dust. They are incredibly dirt sensitive. They're also highly
sensitive to temperature differences. These are fuel cells. Fuel cells, yes. Got you.
And our machines aren't, they're very used to working in dirt the whole time. They're very
used to temperature changes. It's a different animal. It's more of a scientific solution,
in my view. And real solution is a piston engine. And what the hydro maxi is going to prove is that
you can take, once again, a digger engine, this time powered by hydrogen, but in essence,
the vehicle that brows your diggers, and it will do 350 miles an hour with Andy Green at the wheel.
Yes. Am I right, though, that you instigated the hydro maxi project? Yes. Well, I am. But really,
for the same reason that I did in the first, you know, I wanted more people to know. Well,
in this case, of course, hydrogen is not so well known as, say, diesel. And we do feel it's a very
good solution. Look, if emissions are important, hydrogen is one of the top ways of getting zero
emissions. And then the other thing is our ability to stretch the power. We're going from, I don't
know, 100 horsepower maybe. Our average engine probably is, it starts at about 70 horsepower,
goes up to 120. And probably the maximum we would make is 200. But we're now talking about
850 out of these emissions, 850 horsepower. And I was hearing from your chief engineer that
internally they're really surprisingly recognizable. All the bits are still... Very much.
I think that's amazing because we're so used to hearing whenever a conventional engine gets
modified, they chuck away the crankshaft and the conrods and the pistons and all the rest of it.
Not the case, I gather. We've been very much helped not only by our own people, but we use
Ricardo in our advanced engineering. We've been very helpful. British company. And also
Dave Richards as well has been very helpful. Pro drive. Pro drive, yes. Very interesting.
Those have been closely involved on this project.
They bob up everywhere pro drive, haven't they? Well, and they should do. They'd be honestly good
at what they do. Yes, sure. And we're happy with our relation. I mean, there are other
Bosch has been involved in it. We've had a Goodyear on the Tars. That's a very good turn of events.
Gearbox, I'm not sure. I think X-Track was a Gearbox. Yes, exactly. But I think it's X-Track on
Gearbox. But also quite a lot of the gearing, the combination because it's complicated because
you've got two engines. But quite a lot of that is our own company in Wrexham, where we make
X's and Gearbox. We're very vertically integrated as a company on main things.
Will there be some sort of education program? Will this spur education programs? I gather
there's this very afternoon you've got a bunch of students in to tell them all about it. Yes.
Presumably there'll be. I think it inspires people. It inspires young engineers. We have an academy
that we started 14 years ago now. We have over a thousand pupils and that's only a couple of
hundred yards from here in one of Arkwright's old mill. His third mill, actually. Amazing. So part
of the industrial revolution. And they are doing STEM subjects. A thousand pupils, boys and girls.
So STEM and from that, there's something like 200 every year for these young people, finish,
and they have an option. Obviously they can go anywhere or they can go to university.
But our partners at Toyota, Rosehoy Saro Engines, Alstom and ourselves, and they could come to us
and become engineering apprentices with us or management apprentices.
That's amazing. And presumably you can point to people out there just outside your office who've
done that very thing. Oh yes, very much. And many of our senior people now, not so much from there,
but from certainly from a very good agriculture university near here, Harper Adams. Harper Adams,
yes. And we've got, I think, 70 of our people are then mainly sons of daughters and I'd say mainly
doing agricultural engineering when they joined us. But they do other subjects as well.
We're trying to inspire people. So we have a lot of young people coming today. Some are our own
people, some from Staffordshire University, some from various other establishments nearby.
And they're having exactly the same presentation that you had this morning.
And they'll be seeing Andy Green. But what the message is, look, this is British. It's British
engineering. We've got fantastic engineers here in Britain and we can do these things.
Yeah. And you can join them. And we can do them. And we make a machine that's 30 miles an hour.
Last thing, when Andy Green achieves his 350 miles an hour, which he almost assuredly will,
we're told that the Organising Club for Bonneville has already invented a class for hydrogen
ice powered, hydrogen piston powered vehicles. So somebody's going to come along and challenge it.
Well, I hope they do. What will you do then? Well, we run again. Okay. Let's hope Andy turns out to
be ageless, huh? Well, who knows? But it would be nice. I mean, it's a pity nobody has a decent.
Yes. I see you have a competitive soul. You have a competitive soul.
Lord Banford, thank you so much for talking to us. Very nice to see you.
I've enjoyed it. Thank you.
Thank you for joining us. Steve and I will be back on Wednesday with our regular podcast,
My Week in Cars. Thanks meantime to our sponsor Anderson, makers of fine electric car charges.
There's more on this speed record attempt over at Auto Car,
search Auto Car or visit themagazineshop.com.
About this episode
JCB’s HydroMax takes center stage as the Autocar podcast team talks hydrogen land-speed record plans for Bonneville—aiming to beat the long-standing Dieselmax benchmark. The discussion moves from dyno testing and aerodynamic drag to why tire limits and track length matter at extreme speeds. Andy Green and JCB’s Lord Bamford then broaden the picture to hydrogen piston engines for diggers, including leakage, fueling time, and why fuel cells can be costly and sensitive to dirt and temperature.
On this weekend's bonus episode of the Autocar podcast, Steve Cropley meets world land speed record holder Andy Green, the fastest person on earth, and JCB's chairman Lord Bamford, to talk speed records.
JCB will be taking its Hydromax record attempt vehicle, powered by two hydrogen-fuelled combustion engines making a total of 1579bhp, to Boneville salt flats later this summer to try and go 350mph and set a new hydrogen powered speed record.
For more on the Hydromax, and JCB's other record-breaking vehicles, plus 131 years of unmatched car stories, why not subscribe to Autocar? You can get six issues and access to the entire Autocar digital archive for just £6 here.
