You can develop the car that could change the world

A couple of months ago, Top Gear drove a small, tadpole-shaped prototype across a quiet moorland road on an industrial estate in Wales.

Not exactly smoking through London in a modified Ford Mustang, but hugely important nonetheless. It was Riversimple’s ‘Rasa’ hydrogen fuel-cell car, and it could start a revolution in clean, efficient motoring.

Now, the company wants your help to push it forwards.

At the end of 2017, Riversimple will begin a 12-month beta trial of the Rasa in Wales, and needs 100 test drivers to take part in the study. The idea is simple: local drivers will pay a subscription for between one to three months, and use the car on a daily basis, in normal, everyday situations in towns (the Rasa’s 60mph top speed means it’s not designed for motorway travel).

They’ll then feedback to Riversimple and have a say on the final design, and indeed the service, to help the company put the Rasa into production. Riversimple will take care of the insurance, maintenance and hydrogen costs - they’ll install a refuelling station in Abergavenny, with a self-service pump that can refuel in less than five minutes. The bill will go straight back to them, and give the beta-tester 300 miles of range.

“We’re looking for fellow trailblazers to drive our cars in everyday situations,” explains Riversimple director Fiona Spowers. “Their input will feed into the Rasa’s final design. Now, we are refining the design for everyday life.

“Our aim has always been to produce a car which is available to the many, not just the well-off, and feedback from the trial will help ensure we achieve this,” she added.

The trial forms part of a longer-term goal where Riversimple plans to build a network of manufacturing plants, and hopes the Rasa will help kick-start a better infrastructure for hydrogen in the UK.

Interested? Get in touch with Riversimple here. But before you do, you might want to know more about the car itself – click here for Top Gear’s road test of the Rasa.