JCB has been awarded one of the RAC’s most prestigious awards for the development of its hydrogen-fueled engine.
The hydrogen-fueled piston engine produces zero emissions yet has similar performance to diesel alternatives.
JCB chairman Lord Bamford said, “We’re extremely proud that the Royal Automobile Club has chosen to present JCB with the Dewar Trophy for the third time,” said JCB chairman Lord Bamford.
“We’ve invested heavily in alternatives to fossil fuels, including battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cells, but the fact that our hydrogen-fuelled piston engines can be put into production relatively quickly is something that’s vital in the current climate emergency.
“It’s an important and pioneering step towards a zero-carbon future and testament to the amazing abilities of our British engineers.”
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The Dewar Trophy
This trophy is awarded for ‘Outstanding British Technical Achievement in the Automotive Industry’.
Renowned as one of the most prestigious awards in British engineering, the Royal Automobile Club’s Dewar Trophy is awarded only in years when the Club’s expert committee believes that there are contenders of sufficient merit, with winners joining a remarkable line-up of automotive greats.
It was presented to the Club in 1904 by Sir Thomas Dewar, MP (later Lord Dewar), and was to be awarded at the discretion of the Club’s Technical Committee for the most meritorious performance by an automobile manufacturer in the Certified Trials held by the Club.
The first recipients of the award in 1906 were Dennis Brothers Limited of Guildford, whose 20hp car covered a distance of 4,000 miles. It was awarded 19 times during the years 1906 to 1929, there being some years when it was considered that no performance had been recorded of sufficient merit to warrant the award.
In 1931 the award was updated to reflect ‘the most outstanding technical achievement accomplished during that year under the competition rules of the Club’. No award was made under these new terms, however, until 1950 – when it went to the Rover Company for the production and performance of the Rover Gas Turbine Powered Car.
The Trophy was not awarded again until 1957, at which time the terms were again changed to those which prevail to this day, namely: ‘for an outstanding British technical achievement in the automotive field during the preceding year’.
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