Engineered4Extremes - In Focus

The world's fastest hydrogen vehicle is powered by an engine designed to dig foundations, not break records. In August 2026, JCB's Hydromax set a new world land speed record of 406.320mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats, driven by Wing Commander Andy Green. Its two engines are derived directly from JCB's own production hydrogen digger engines, built at the company's factory in Foston, Derbyshire, part of a £100 million hydrogen engine investment programme originally aimed at construction sites, not salt flats. The record proves something more useful to buyers than bragging rights: an engine tough enough to survive sustained heavy load in a quarry has more than enough reserve to be pushed to the absolute limit of speed.