Last fall, the top speed record for a car with a diesel engine was broken by the JCB Dieselmax racer (see related article below) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. This year, the top speed record was broken by another alternative fuel vehicle, the Ford Fusion Hydrogen 999.
Not only did the Fusion Hydrogen break the speed record by achieving an averaged speed of 207.279 mph, it's actually the first production-based hydrogen fuel car of its kind. The car is the result of collaboration between Ford engineers, students at Ohio State University, Roush Racing, and Ballard Power Systems. The car, designed by the Ford engineers, uses the electric motor from a 2004 electric race car, the Buckeye Bullet. That car set the record for fastest electric car, going 314 mph.
Besides working on the Ford Fusion Hydrogen car, the Ohio State University students have been working on a successor to the 2004 Buckeye Bullet. Dubbed the Buckeye Bullet 2, the new car is expected to be even faster: the students are expecting a top speed in the neighborhood of 350 mph.