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Science & Tech137 outlets ran this5 min read

Andy Green breaks hydrogen-powered land speed record at 406 mph in Utah

British driver sets new FIA-certified mark in JCB Hydromax, powered by two hydrogen combustion engines

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

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Andy Green breaks hydrogen-powered land speed record at 406 mph in Utah

What this story says

  • Andy Green set a new FIA-certified land speed record of 406.320 mph in a hydrogen-powered car at the Bonneville Salt Flats on 11 August 2026.
  • The JCB Hydromax, powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines, surpassed the previous hydrogen record of 185.5 mph by more than 200 mph.
  • The record was overseen by FIA officials and required two runs in opposite directions within an hour, averaging speeds over a measured mile.
  • JCB framed the achievement as a demonstration of hydrogen’s potential for heavy industry, though most hydrogen is currently produced from fossil fuels.

Who covered it

Left 19%(18)Centre 55%(53)Right 26%(25)

Percentages are shares of the 96 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 41 of the 137 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

92/100

Craft

78/100

Hype

20/100

137 sources · methodology

Andy Green, a retired Royal Air Force pilot, set a new land speed record for a hydrogen-powered vehicle on 11 August 2026 at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) certified the record after Green averaged 406.320 mph across two runs in the JCB Hydromax, a 32-foot car powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines. The engines, adapted from JCB’s construction machinery, produce a combined 1,600 horsepower.

The previous record for a hydrogen-powered vehicle was 185.5 mph, set in 2004. Green’s attempt required two runs in opposite directions within an hour, with the average speed taken from a measured mile in each direction. The Hydromax reached 400.623 mph on its first run and 412.135 mph on the return, as reported by Autocar UK. The record was overseen by FIA officials alongside the United States’ National Sporting Authority.

Green, who also holds the overall land speed record of 763.035 mph set in 1997, described the Bonneville Salt Flats as the "best racing surface in the world." The JCB Hydromax’s engines mix pressurised hydrogen gas with air and ignite it to generate power. JCB’s chairman, Lord Bamford, stated the achievement proved hydrogen combustion could deliver zero emissions at low cost, though the company’s hydrogen is currently sourced from renewable energy, which makes up a small fraction of global production.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mentioned the previous hydrogen land speed record of 185.5 mph, which was reported by the Durango Herald and Autocar UK. The environmental context of hydrogen production, that most is derived from fossil fuels, was omitted from all centre-rated digests and the right-rated reports. The specific speeds of the two runs required for the record were not included in any digest outside Autocar UK’s full report.

Tags:#LandSpeedRecord#HydrogenPower#BonnevilleSaltFlats#JCBHydromax#AndyGreen#FIARecord

Coverage settled. We checked this 10 times and stopped on 17 Aug 2026, 15:46. The figures above are what it finished at.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

JCB Hydromax 1
Autocar UKCentre

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

18 rated outlets

  • All 12 left-rated reports led on Andy Green setting a new land speed record for hydrogen-powered vehicles at 406.320 mph (653.908 kph) on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile certified the record. The car, built by JCB, used two hydrogen internal combustion engines with a combined 1,600 horsepower.
  • The Durango Herald’s full report quoted Green calling the technology a showcase for hydrogen power and noting the car’s cockpit reached over 50°C. Ten digests carried the detail that Green previously broke the sound barrier in 1997. Eight digests mentioned the engines were adapted from JCB’s heavy machinery. None of the digests included the cost barriers or the source of the hydrogen fuel.
  • Eleven digests named Green as a retired Royal Air Force pilot. The Independent’s digest quoted his description of the salt surface as ‘surprisingly slippery’. Spiegel’s digest noted the record was specific to hydrogen internal combustion engines, not fuel cells. No digest mentioned the University of Michigan professor’s comments on hydrogen’s role in decarbonisation.

Centre

53 rated outlets

  • The 12 centre-rated digests and reports led on the speed achieved and the technical details of the Hydromax. Autocar UK’s full report detailed the two-run requirement for the record and the specific speeds reached on each run. It also quoted Lord Bamford describing the achievement as a demonstration of hydrogen’s viability for internal combustion engines at low cost.
  • Reuters and Forbes led with the record itself, while Coolhunting and Tech Spot emphasised the car’s construction, noting the engines were adapted from JCB’s excavators. The Record’s digest highlighted that the new record did not approach Green’s 1997 supersonic mark. None of the centre-rated digests mentioned the environmental or political context carried in the left and right reports.

Right

25 rated outlets

  • The two right-rated digests led on the record as a business story. The New York Post’s digest quoted Green calling hydrogen the "fuel of the future" but did not expand on the environmental implications. GB News’s digest focused on JCB chairman Lord Bamford’s criticism of British business conditions, quoting him saying the UK was in a "real mess" and that doing business there "could be a hell of a lot better."
  • Neither right-rated digest mentioned the previous hydrogen record or the technical details of the Hydromax’s engines, which were carried in the centre and left reports.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Andy Green breaks hydrogen-powered land speed record at 406 mph in Utah?
Of the 96 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 19% are rated left, 55% are rated centre, 26% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 137. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Andy Green breaks hydrogen-powered land speed record at 406 mph in Utah left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 96 rated outlets on this story, 19% are rated left, 55% are rated centre, 26% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Andy Green breaks hydrogen-powered land speed record at 406 mph in Utah biased?
Andy Green breaks hydrogen-powered land speed record at 406 mph in Utah is one event reported by 137 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which outlets covered Andy Green breaks hydrogen-powered land speed record at 406 mph in Utah?
137 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What speed did Andy Green reach in the hydrogen-powered car?
Andy Green reached an average speed of 406.320 mph across two runs at the Bonneville Salt Flats, setting a new FIA-certified land speed record for a hydrogen-powered vehicle. The record required two runs in opposite directions within an hour, with speeds measured over a mile in each direction.
How does the JCB Hydromax’s engine work?
The JCB Hydromax is powered by two hydrogen internal combustion engines adapted from JCB’s construction machinery. The engines mix pressurised hydrogen gas with air and ignite it to generate power, producing a combined 1,600 horsepower. This differs from hydrogen fuel cells, which generate electricity.
What was the previous hydrogen land speed record?
The previous hydrogen land speed record was 185.5 mph, set in 2004 by a BMW research prototype. Andy Green’s 406.320 mph run in the JCB Hydromax surpassed it by over 200 mph. The previous FIA-certified record for a hydrogen-powered vehicle was 302.877 mph, set in 2009.
Why did JCB attempt the record?
JCB framed the record attempt as a demonstration of hydrogen’s potential for heavy industry, particularly in locations lacking electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The company’s chairman, Lord Bamford, stated the achievement proved hydrogen combustion could deliver zero emissions at low cost, aligning with JCB’s growing hydrogen engine business.

Read it at the source

137 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

18
Show 10 more

Centre

53
Show 45 more

Right

25
Show 17 more

Not rated

41
Show 33 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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