Luxury brand Lexus has taken a minor deviation from its usual product line by launching an off-road buggy, powered by a hydrogen engine.
Dubbed the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle (ROV), it's essentially a Utility Terrain Vehicle with a bit of Lexus styling, although it's unclear if Toyota's luxury brand will make the concept a reality.
Unlike other hydrogen vehicles such as the Toyota Mirai, the ROV doesn't use a fuel-cell and electric motor to deliver its power, rather an internal combustion engine which has been modified to run on hydrogen instead of fossil fuels.
Toyota has used this technology before, modifying the GR Yaris's three-cylinder turbo engine and fitting it to a Corolla, raced in a 24-hour event at the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway.
While it's unlikely the full-fat GR Yaris engine and all-wheel drive underpinnings would be utilised in the ROV, we can only imagine the kind of off-road madness which could be achieved in a buggy with the 225kW three-pot.
Featuring LED headlights at the front and a similar design at the rear, the ROV has all the hallmarks of an off-road vehicle with its exposed suspension and lack of a windscreen, completed with knobbly tyres to dig into the dirt.
Finished in a dark matte bronze, it would be cool to see this make it into production – although whether Lexus owners would be interested in such a vehicle remains to be seen.
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