Between Hellcat-munching Teslas and 1,000-horsepower monsters raging up Pikes Peak, it seems as though all-electric power is truly coming into its own. But this is 2016, folks, and technology moves quickly, so what’s the next big thing when it comes to four-wheeled performance? A lot of people are putting their money on hydrogen, including Pininfarina. You see, the famous Italian car designer says its making 10 examples of its hydrogen-powered H2 race car, and we could see a working prototype as early as next year.

That’s the word from Automotive News, which had a chat with Pininfarina’s CEO, Silvio Pietro Angori, at the recent Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

In case you were unaware, Pininfarina introduced the H2 as a concept at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. The car is absolutely ridiculous in pretty much every single way – not only does it look like a spaceship, but it also uses a hydrogen-fueled powertrain from GreenGT that pumps out 503 horsepower at the rear wheels by way of two high-performance electric motors (plus a little electrochemical magic). With that kind of output, the car can supposedly hit the 60 mph mark is just 3.4 seconds, raging on to a top speed of 184 mph.

Each of the ten examples slated for production will cost $2.5 million.

Continue reading for the full story.

Why it Matters

When this thing dropped cover, pretty much everyone (myself included) took one look, shrugged their shoulders, and said, “Looks great, too bad it’ll never make production.”

Turns out everyone was wrong.

In fact, Angori told Automotive News that Pininfarina will actually be making a Automotive News from each example sold. I guess that’s not a huge stretch when you consider the car’s price tag, but still, with something this advanced, that’s still pretty impressive.

Underneath, the car will utilize a Le Mans Prototype 2 chassis homologated for FIA competition (although which series this thing will run in remains a mystery). After the prototype is up and running, we can expect a production model to be ready in about a year’s time.

Even more interesting is Angori’s statement that the H2 is “the exemplification of what we intend to do going forward.”

So then – it won’t have the same sound as an old V-12-powered Pininfarina-bodied Ferrari, and it might look a little odd to some, but hey – 3.4 seconds to 60 mph? That sounds just about right to me. Whether or not this thing will ever see proper racing is another issue altogether.

What do you think? Like it? Hate it? Tell us in the comments below.

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Read our full review of the H2 Speed Concept here.