IT MAY HAVE ONCE BEEN KNOWN FOR ITS garishly coloured, diesel-chugging diggers, but JCB has successfully turned over a new leaf, to the point where it has just ‘scooped’ one of the Royal Automobile Club’s top technology awards for a third time.
Each year the RAC gives its Dewar Trophy to a company that has demonstrated an outstanding British technical achievement in the automotive field. JCB earned the honour this year as recognition for its development of the ABH2 hydrogen-fuelled engine, which produces zero carbon emissions yet manages to match the performance of traditional diesel powerplants. Its only by-product is steam from the exhaust pipe.