Viritech Taps Pininfarina for Apricale Hypercar Design

Cleantech company Viritech has confirmed that Pininfarina will design the Apricale, its hydrogen-powered hypercar.

British-based Viritech and Italian design house Pininfarina are in “advanced discussions” about producing a limited series of the Apricale, which is due to make its debut next week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed before going on sale next year.

While Viritech did create an “initial reference design” of the Apricale, Pininfarina is set to re-interpret that initial vision.

Viritech says that the Apricale will feature a “revolutionary hydrogen powertrain” with a multi-hundred kW fuel cell system and a high-density small battery pack. The car will be able to switch between fuel cell and battery power in less than 100 milliseconds whilst also weighing less than 1,000 kg.

“Viritech is focused on becoming the world’s leading developer of hydrogen powertrain solutions and the Apricale, with its requirement to optimise weight, space and performance, provided us the perfect development platform for our core powertrain technologies, which have also been designed for broad application in the coming age of sustainable transportation,” says Timothy Lyons, Viritech’s founder.

“So, given our core focus on hydrogen powertrains, partnering with Pininfarina to deliver the Apricale made great sense for us, and intriguingly raises the possibility of collaborating together on a subsequent production run of hydrogen supercars. In Pininfarina, we have a partner with a unique heritage in the history of automotive design, able to bring the unique experience and the same level of passion to the project. The result is a hypercar which is set to become the Icon for the new age of transportation.”

There is also a chance that Pininfarina will manufacture the Apricale at its facility in Cambiano, Torina. 

“We are excited to work with Viritech on the exclusive road-legal hydrogen hypercar. Pininfarina has always been ahead of its time in terms of clean mobility. We bring to this new venture our ability to unify form and function combining our design expertise to environmental sustainability. The Apricale also continues Pininfarina’s unparalleled legacy of designing special cars, namely vehicles produced in limited series for lovers of unique cars. It is a synthesis of technology, sustainability, beauty, and, above all, performance,” says Silvio Angori, Pininfarina’s CEO.

The Apricale, however, is not the only hydrogen-powered car that Pininfarina is working on. In fact, Paolo Pininfarina, the company’s eponymous chairman gave Auto Futures a behind-the-scenes look at its design work with the NamX HUV.