JavaScript is required
NAMX HUV - Pininfarina

NAMX HUV

The world’s first car partially powered by a patented removable tank system.
Mehr entdecken
  • Kategorie
    Concept cars
  • Kunde
    Pininfarina
  • Ort
    Paris, France
  • Jahr
    2022
  • Auszeichnungen
A hydrogen-powered SUV partially fuelled by removable capsules, paving the way for a seamless and carbon-free experience of mobility.
The project

A hydrogen-powered SUV partially fuelled by removable capsules, paving the way for a seamless and carbon-free experience of mobility

NAMX presented the prototype of its HUV, the world’s first car partially powered by a patented removable tank system that promises to change the experience paradigm of clean mobility and make hydrogen fuel widely available.

The way

On-demand hydrogen enabling sustainable, limitless mobility

NAMX’s HUV is part of a large-scale industrial and technological project whose ambition is to reconcile human mobility and environmental preservation thanks to green hydrogen. Faouzi Annajan and Thomas de Lussac, the cofounders of NAMX, intend to lead this project from end to end by federating key players in the industry, articulating the best of the existing technologies, and creating the solutions that are still missing.

The HUV and its technology, are the first products of this unique approach. By offering new ways to provide hydrogen to end customers and recharging flexibility, it helps mobility to go green. The geopolitical context highlights the strategic importance of hydrogen whose production objective has been tripled under Repower EU and which offers a clear path to mobility decarbonization in Europe and beyond, with nearly 1.5 billion private vehicles to be replaced by 2050.

In addition, by allowing home deliveries and a tank change in seconds, NAMX changes the experience of clean mobility by providing fluidity, flexibility, and accessibility. The HUV and its technology allow for the revival of the historical promise of freedom that is attached to the automobile and to place it into a sustainable future, where mobility takes place harmoniously within the environment.


The idea

A futuristic SUV with solid performances, designed with style

Fruit of a collaboration between NAMX and PININFARINA, the design of the car reflects a firm attention to details and purity. The inventiveness of Thomas de Lussac, also designer of the NAMX, was reinforced by the unique know-how of Kevin Rice, Chief Creative Officer of PININFARINA, and his teams to design a prototype that is both resolutely futureoriented and inspired by multiple facets. Fascinated by science fiction, Thomas de Lussac chose to give the vehicle’s shape the cutting edge of the coming era. His taste for the American design of the 50s and 60s, his predilection for “Muscle Cars”, inspired him to create a car that goes against the current, smooth, conventional design of electric cars. The NAMX HUV is powerful and asserts a conquering stance.

Pininfarina has brought Italian elegance and an unparalleled sense of proportion and detail to the design, right down to the brand’s X engraved on the doors in continuous lines and repeated on the grille. It will be marketed in two different versions: an entry-level rear-wheel drive version with 300 hp for a regulated top speed of 200 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds; a four-wheel drive GTH version with 550 hp for a regulated top speed of 250 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds. The HUV will be marketed from the Q4 2025 with a price range between 65,000 Euro and 95,000 Euro depending on the options selected.

Pininfarina has always been at the foremost frontier of a new automotive mobility experience and has always looked attentively at hydrogen in the last 15 years by investing in studies and prototypes in collaboration with start-ups that are fully committed in new technologies. In 2008 Pininfarina integrated the concept of connected cars and automated mobility in the car and unveiled its hydrogen fuel cell concept car, the Sintesi, at the Geneva Motor Show. In 2016 Pininfarina presented its vision of a high-performance track car based on revolutionary hydrogen fuel cell technology, the H2 Speed. In 2019, at the Shanghai Motor Show, Grove Hydrogen Automotive Company announced a wide-ranging cooperation with Pininfarina subsidiary in Shanghai. Pininfarina’s commitment to hydrogen goes beyond the car. In 2021 the most powerful 100% hydrogen and electric racing truck ever built was presented by Gaussin Group and the design of the range was entrusted to Pininfarina. And today, in this collaboration with NAMX, Pininfarina brings this enormous wealth of experience applied for the first time to a mass-market SUV.

Pininfarina and NAMX redefined a completely new creative approach while designing together the HUV. This is a “next generation” car. A futuristic fusion of muscular main volumes, aggressive graphics, and a touch of retro around the lamp elements. Viewed from any angle, this car is unmistakably a NAMX. A new design language and identity has been created for NAMX, not just to celebrate a new brand, but really give an all-new meaning to the innovative hydrogen concept never seen before. Stylistically speaking, the HUV consciously adopts a contrasting image as compared to the current “green design” approach of our time.

The project commenced by first designing the removable hydrogen tanks and understanding the best way to integrate them into the car from a functional, ergonomic and user experience point of view. Keeping in mind the positioning of its occupants and the intricate packaging of the tanks and the rear, the overall volume of the vehicle started to take shape. As a result, the NAMX HUV might probably be the first car in Pininfarina’s history designed from back to front. As one approaches the HUV from the side, one cannot miss the car's high-slung, wedge silhouette. The HUV boasts a purposeful nose, a rising body-side that eventually culminates in an extremely powerful and muscular rear volume. Still on the side, two intersecting lines subconsciously create an “X” – a deliberate attempt to visually read the brand name NAM”X” on the car's surface. Powerful wheel fenders flare outwards from the “X” and wrap around the extremity of the vehicle, enough to create the entire volume. This simple and iconic gesture ties together the entire car and is unmistakably Pininfarina in its philosophy. The “X” is also at the heart of the concept’s graphics. The imposing front grille maximizes cooling requirements for the fuel cells, while its contour and the charge lamp's is a nod to the “X”. The wide, horizontal coast-to-coast lamps cap off the front fascia. It is also the icing on the cake to the rear tank deck, which on its own is a symphonic standalone work of art.